Sustained higher oil prices resulting from conflict in the Middle East may fuel inflation in South Africa, though the buffers built by the government should help keep its debt-consolidation plans on track, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said. The price of Brent crude has jumped almost 16% this week as shipping flows ground to a halt in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil transits. “South Africa is a price taker” when it comes to fuel, Godongwana said in an interview on Bloomberg Television in London on Thursday. But the turmoil unleashed by US and Israeli strikes on Iran that began at the weekend could force South Africa to rethink its budgetary projections, with trade and global growth likely to be impacted. Investors appear to be “maintaining a positive outlook for South Africa,” he said.

Source: News 24 March 05, 2026 10:39 UTC