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  2. US mid-termsHeating up
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Fuel prices rise amid crude oil tensions

Published

Fuel prices rose from midnight on Tuesday, according to the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources. Petrol went up by R3.12 to R3.33 per litre, depending on grade.

Fuel prices rose from midnight on Tuesday, according to the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources. Petrol went up by R3.12 to R3.33 per litre, depending on grade. Diesel went up by R2.84 to R3.24 per litre.

The department said rising crude oil prices, linked to US/Iran tensions, and a stronger Rand played a part. Political parties asked government for relief.

Key facts

Who
Pan Africanist Congress (political party condemning the fuel price increase); Mfusi Zonke (PAC Western Cape Spokesperson); motorists; Bobby Ramagwede (CEO of the Automobile Association of South Africa)
What
Fuel prices are increasing from midnight, with petrol expected to breach R30 per litre for the first time and diesel already above that level. Petrol prices will increase by between R3.12 and R3.33 per litre depending on grade. The PAC says the increase will deepen the cost-of-living crisis and push up prices of transport, food and other necessities.
When
7 October 2026
Where
South Africa
Status
Reported

Elections Hot

What you need to know

Voting in the 2026 Local Government Elections is under way at 23,696 stations, and the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) reported a smooth start on 4 November. Stations opened at 7am and close at 9pm, and by 10am preliminary figures showed 3,523,691 voters had cast ballots.

There were problems: unused ballot papers were stolen from Mnyameni Secondary School near Durban, police opened a case, and the IEC relieved the station staff of duty. Some voters in Tshwane said they were turned away for wearing party shirts, but the IEC denied this and said only mayoral candidates' entourages were barred.

ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe told members not to query the results or discredit the IEC, while the IEC said false online claims show routine procedures as fraud.

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US mid-terms Heating up

What you need to know

Democrats won back both the US House and Senate in the midterm elections held on 3 November, according to media projections. Exit polls showed voters were angry about high prices and the direction of the country, and rebuked President Donald Trump.

Before the vote, US forces struck targets on Qeshm Island in Iran, while Republicans struggled to defend the war against Iran on the campaign trail. Iranian officials said US voters rejected the war, and Tehran stayed on high alert for possible new US strikes.

Markets reacted, with the dollar hitting a one-month low and the rand firming to around R16.55, as analysts pointed to fears of gridlock in Washington.

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AI Cooling

What you need to know

Nvidia has told its cloud computing clients to sell at least 51% of their services to non-Chinese companies, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Anthropic said it has committed to spend close to $900bn on AI infrastructure, and that its computing costs are rising faster than its revenues.

Elsewhere, reports from unnamed sources say OpenAI's latest funding round is falling short of expectations, and a judge let the NAACP pollution case against xAI proceed. In South Africa, the VAST AI investment scheme went offline on 30 October after withdrawals marked approved did not arrive, according to a news investigation.

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