Ongoing

  1. ElectionsHot
  2. US mid-termsHeating up
  3. AICooling
Newsbrief
JoburgJHB29°69%
CTCT21°90%
PretoriaPTA33°75%
DurbanDBN30°20°

Godongwana cuts fuel levy for diesel and petrol from 4 November

Published

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana told Parliament the fuel levy falls by R3 per litre for diesel and R1.50 per litre for petrol until 1 December 2026. The R10 billion relief comes from the Central Energy Fund.

Godongwana spoke in Parliament as he presented the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement. After 1 December 2026, the cuts become smaller. The diesel levy will fall by R1.50 per litre and the petrol levy by R1 per litre until 5 January 2027.

The relief is funded by returning R10 billion from the Central Energy Fund to the National Revenue Fund. The money came from 2025/26 revenue overruns. Godongwana said the financing aims to ease cost of living pressures without harming the sustainability of the budget.

Key facts

Who
Enoch Godongwana (Finance Minister); Central Energy Fund (recipient of R10 billion from 2025/26 revenue overruns, to surrender it back); National Revenue Fund (receives the R10 billion to finance the relief); Treasury (government department providing the figures)
What
Godongwana told Parliament the fuel levy will be cut by R3 per litre for diesel and R1.50 per litre for petrol from 4 November 2026 to 1 December 2026, then by smaller amounts until 5 January 2027, funded by returning R10 billion from the Central Energy Fund to the National Revenue Fund.
When
21 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.

  1. BOSA's Solomons flags one-ballot problem at Cape Town voting stations
  2. Mashatile urges new councillors to put voters first
  3. IEC dismisses MK Party worry about dead people on voters' roll

See every update

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.

  1. Iran welcomes Democratic wins in US midterm elections
  2. Democrats win US Congress in midterm vote, projections show
  3. Ramaphosa wants US trade deal after AGOA suspension

See every update

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.

  1. Accenture faces accusations over AI report with false citations
  2. CrowdStrike to buy two AI security startups
  3. Google lets schools turn off AI tools but limits Search

See every update