Tuesday, 6 October 2026

Petrol rose above R30 a litre and diesel to as much as R33, prompting the AA to call for roughly R3 in fuel-tax relief to ease inflationary pressure.

The Competition Commission’s new guidelines aim to stop manufacturers restricting independent repairers’ access to spare parts, technical information and tools, with mobile phones and medical devices under scrutiny.

South Africans are keeping smartphones longer, with some mobile operators experimenting with 48-month contracts; repairability and replacement batteries are becoming increasingly important to ownership costs.

Retirement-village sectional title offers ownership and an inheritable asset but higher ongoing costs, while life rights are cheaper to run yet expose buyers to operator and contract risks.

Exxaro says it has gone four years without a fatality, is targeting carbon neutrality for scopes one and two by 2050, and plans to build renewable capacity to 1,600MW by 2030.