Ongoing

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

Myanmar disguised Iranian jet fuel as South African diesel

Published

An investigation says Myanmar-based broker Dynamic Wave ordered about 113,000 barrels of sanctioned Iranian jet fuel under a contract for South African diesel worth $15.8m (about R261.9m). The investigation says the contract was a charade.

The tanker Reef carried the 113,000 barrels to Myanmar in December 2025. Myanmar's military-backed foreign exchange regulator reportedly agreed to label the delivery as diesel. A letter dated 30 November said it would issue import papers describing the cargo "instead of jet fuel".

Thai firm Tawan-Oil Trading agreed the sales contract. UN experts have identified Tawan as a jet-fuel supplier to Myanmar's military. In May 2025 Dynamic Wave also agreed to buy 202,000 barrels from Tawan, described as South African diesel, for $26m. The fuel carried a price premium of more than 50% over a global diesel benchmark.

The investigation says there was no such trade between South Africa and Myanmar in 2025, citing UN and Vortexa data. The activist group Justice for Myanmar supplied documents and says the junta imported jet fuel mislabelled as diesel. Siam Commercial Bank, which holds Tawan's account, said its Myanmar-related transactions were legitimate and not linked to the arms trade.

The US imposed targeted sanctions on Myanmar's jet-fuel industry in 2023, citing the military's bombing campaign. The UN says the military has killed thousands, including many civilians, in air attacks. Myanmar's foreign ministry says the military exercises maximum restraint to avoid civilian harm.

Key facts

Who
Dynamic Wave (Myanmar-based energy broker that ordered the shipment); Tawan-Oil Trading (Thai firm that agreed the sales contract and was identified by UN experts as a…); National Energy Prime Aviation Services Company (client of Dynamic Wave, part-owned by Myanmar's military-backed government); Justice for Myanmar
When
26 October 2026
Where
Myanmar, Iran, South Africa
Status
Reported

Related stories

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