{"id":863850,"date":"2026-06-18T07:22:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T05:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=863850"},"modified":"2026-06-18T08:30:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T06:30:36","slug":"new-woolworths-chocolate-maker-revealed-and-major-city-accused-of-trying-to-overcharge-residents-by-r13-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/5-things\/863850\/new-woolworths-chocolate-maker-revealed-and-major-city-accused-of-trying-to-overcharge-residents-by-r13-billion\/","title":{"rendered":"New Woolworths chocolate maker revealed, and major city accused of trying to overcharge residents by R13 billion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rand remained stable on Wednesday after data showed inflation in May rose less than anticipated, which analysts believe reduces the chances of another interest rate hike by the central bank next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rand was trading at 16.18 against the dollar, showing little change from its previous close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Year-on-year, headline inflation rose to 4.5% in May, up from 4.0% in April, marking the highest level since July 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This increase is primarily attributed to rising fuel prices linked to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economists at Nedbank predict that inflation will rise further to nearly 5% in June due to higher fuel prices, before easing in the latter half of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They noted that the moderation will reflect easing oil prices following the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and continued disinflation in food prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a net fuel importer, South Africa is significantly affected by fluctuations in global energy prices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In separate reports, Statistics South Africa indicated that retail sales increased by 1.3% year-on-year in April, following a revised growth of 2.5% in March. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Top-40 index rose by approximately 0.1%. Additionally, South Africa’s benchmark 2035 government bond strengthened, with yields falling by 11.5 basis points to 8.22%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, 18 June 2026, the rand was trading at R16.32 to the dollar, R21.73 to the pound, and R18.81 to the euro. Gold is trading lower at $4,311.01 an ounce, while oil prices were at $77.93 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 important things happening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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New Woolworths chocolate maker:\u00a0<\/strong>In its annual report, Premier Foods noted that it is now supplying Woolworths’ private-label chocolate and sweet products. It noted that “trading was boosted” by “additional products onboarded with Woolworths, including liquorice and the chocolate product range”. [Premier Foods<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Major city accused of overcharging: <\/strong>Ekurhuleni is accused of inflating its 2024\/25 electricity tariff by R13 billion, affecting its approved 2026\/27 tariffs. Concerns about legality and similar issues in other municipalities have been raised. [Moneyweb<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Inspection warning for people employing domestic workers: <\/strong>Businesses and households that employ foreign workers are being warned that labour inspectors and multidisciplinary task teams are conducting ongoing enforcement operations across the country. [BusinessTech<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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South Africa seals deal with American giant: <\/strong>ExxonMobil struck a preliminary deal to bring liquefied natural gas to South Africa, which will use the fuel to bolster its coal-reliant power grid, according to people familiar with the matter. [Daily Investor<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Please Call Me\u2019s Nkosana Makate is being sued:<\/strong> Errol Elsdon, a former financial backer of the case Nkosana Kenneth Makate brought against Vodacom over his contribution to Please Call Me, has announced that he is suing for defamation. [MyBroadband<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are five important things happening in and affecting South Africa on 18 June, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":863851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20398],"tags":[18993,853],"class_list":["post-863850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5-things","tag-5-important-things-happening-in-south-africa-today","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863850","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\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863850"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":863861,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863850\/revisions\/863861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}