Cape Town — Private Suppliers Now Be Allowed to Sell Power to the City of Cape Town

In an effort to make Cape Town the first "load shedding-free metro", Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has announced that the City is now allowed to buy electricity back from private suppliers, Eyewitness News reports. This comes after a decision by the National Treasury to exempt the city from competitive bidding or tendering to buy power from homes and businesses. The mayor added that payments to commercial customers may be possible before June while Capetonians allowed to sell excess energy fed back into the local grid can expect payments before the end of the year.

South Africa's Partnership 'Does Not Make Sense', Ukrainian Association Says

The Ukrainian Association of South Africa has said that South Africa's efforts at deepening its ties with Russia makes no sense from an economic standpoint as annual trade with Russia only amounts to R15 billion compared to R700 billion with the European Union and R290 billion with the U.S., IOL reports. The non-profit organisation also rallied activists and demonstrators to protest around International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor's offices in Pretoria and called the government to "immediately and unequivocally condemn Russia's colonial war on Ukraine."

Fuel Price Hike Set for Next Week

According to eNCA, a fuel price increase is on the card for next week based on data from the Central Energy Fund. The cost of 93 unleaded will rise by 32 cents a litre while 95 unleaded will see a rise of 25 cents a litre. The cost of diesel is expected to drop by six cents a litre and illuminating paraffin will increase in price by eight cents. The rising cost of Brent crude oil has been attributed as the main factor along with a weakening value of the rand against the U.S. dollar over the past several weeks.