{"id":852685,"date":"2026-03-03T08:10:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T06:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=852685"},"modified":"2026-03-03T08:10:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T06:10:29","slug":"the-end-of-bee-on-the-cards-and-how-much-more-youll-pay-for-petrol-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/852685\/the-end-of-bee-on-the-cards-and-how-much-more-youll-pay-for-petrol-this-week\/","title":{"rendered":"The end of BEE on the cards, and how much more you’ll pay for petrol this week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rand fell on Monday as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East unsettled investors and contributed to global economic uncertainty. The rand was trading at 16.15 against the dollar, which is approximately a 1.3% decline from Friday’s close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the weekend, the United States and Israel conducted significant strikes on Iran that resulted in the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In response, Iran launched missile and drone attacks in various parts of the Middle East. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dollar gained 0.3% against a basket of currencies, while gold \u2013 a key export for South Africa \u2013 reached its highest price in over four weeks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Although the US is involved, and the Trump administration’s stance on tariffs continues to undermine the USD’s value, it remains a haven for investors seeking to shield themselves from the volatility that might follow this weekend’s events,” said analysts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporting the rand in this instance is the gold price, which has surged back towards its recent record highs,” the note added. Like other risk-sensitive currencies, the rand often responds to global influences, such as US policies, in addition to domestic economic data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A measure of South African manufacturing sentiment weakened slightly in February, with the headline index falling further below the neutral 50-point mark, according to a purchasing managers’ index survey released on Monday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a separate report, figures from South Africa’s automotive association, NAAMSA, showed that new vehicle sales increased by 11.4% year-on-year in February, surpassing economists’ predictions of 5.2% and the 7.5% growth recorded in January. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index was down 0.8% at the last check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of Tuesday, 03 March, the rand is trading at R16.15 to the dollar, R21.59 to the pound, and R18.85 to the euro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gold is currently valued at $5,310.44 per ounce, while oil prices have risen to $80.17 per barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 important things happening in South Africa today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The end of BEE on the cards:\u00a0<\/strong>Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has acknowledged that the government is willing to engage in a candid discussion about the unintended effects of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policies. This is a significant departure from the previous ANC administration, which was unwilling to even entertain discussions on the merits of BEE with opposition parties. Additionally, this willingness to debate arises amidst growing scrutiny of the ANC\u2019s transformation framework in South Africa, which has increasingly been associated with cronyism and corruption. [Daily Investor<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bad news for fuel prices in South Africa:\u00a0<\/strong>Fuel prices are expected to rise from their recent lows, with increases scheduled to commence on 4 March, coinciding with the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMR) routine adjustments on the first Wednesday of each month. The upcoming changes will result in higher costs for South African consumers, including a 20-cent-per-litre increase for both petrol grades. Additionally, the wholesale price of diesel will rise by 62 to 65 cents per litre, and illuminating paraffin will see a 44-cent increase per litre. The ongoing US-Iran conflict has driven oil prices higher, further challenging prices for South African consumers. [BusinessTech<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Warning to Johannesburg about solar: <\/strong>Residents of Johannesburg should be cautious before registering their rooftop solar power systems, given the city’s notorious history of overestimating the consumption of postpaid users. In a surprising shift from its earlier push for conversions, the City of Joburg has stopped installing prepaid meters and has decided to switch certain households and businesses to postpaid systems. The move to pause the installation of prepaid meters began in September 2025, as the city looked into some inconsistencies in various accounts. [MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eskom uses AI as a solution:<\/strong>\u00a0Power utility Eskom has announced its recruitment of data scientists as it prepares to incorporate AI into its operations. This initiative could significantly enhance energy security in South Africa, with the goal of creating a \u201cself-healing\u201d national grid that can address its own issues without external supervision. [BusinessDay<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Illegal industry worth R60 billion<\/strong>: Over the past few years, South Africa\u2019s illegal mining industry has become a persistent and deepening crisis. Despite ongoing media attention and crackdown efforts, a 2025 report from PWC found that the value of illegal mining has ballooned from R7 billion in 2017 to R60 billion by 2025. Illegal mining is the extraction of minerals or precious metals without the permission of the state or compliance with safety and legal regulations.\u00a0[Newsday<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five important things happening in South Africa on Tuesday, 3 March 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":820534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,16632],"class_list":["post-852685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5-things","tag-5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today","tag-5-things"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852685"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":852693,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852685\/revisions\/852693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/820534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}