For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Halima Frost.

Making headlines: Stronger rand contributes to lower fuel price for August; DA requests Parliamentary debate on rising electricity tariffs And, Nigerian protests fizzle out after deadly police crackdown

Stronger rand contributes to lower fuel price for August

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, which is being separated into the Department of Electricity and Energy and the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, has announced decreases in fuel prices for August.

Petrol 93 and 95 will both decrease by 15c/ℓ, respectively, while diesel 0.05% sulphur will decrease by 28c/ℓ and diesel 0.005% by 17c/ℓ.

Wholesale illuminating paraffin will decrease by 22c/ℓ and liquefied petroleum gas by 14c/kg.

The latest downward adjustment of fuel prices follows the appreciation of the rand against the dollar between June 28 and August 1 to R18.23, compared with R18.44 in the previous review period.

This led to a lower contribution to the basic fuel prices on petrol, diesel and illuminating paraffin.

DA requests Parliamentary debate on rising electricity tariffs

The Democratic Alliance has written to National Assembly speaker Thoko Didiza requesting that Parliament hold a debate on the rapidly rising cost of electricity, which it said is becoming increasingly unaffordable for many South African households.

DA spokesperson on Electricity and Energy Kevin Mileham stated that electricity tariffs had reached “crisis levels” and warned of a “real risk” that South African households could become trapped in a permanent high cost of living environment owing to high electricity prices.

He said while the recent announcement by the Ministry of Energy and Electricity to review the electricity pricing model was welcome, government needed to move with urgency.

Mileham said the Eskom monopoly has become inefficient, and the cost of that inefficiency is now being passed on to consumers.

He also claimed that the current electricity pricing policy is more biased towards setting tariffs that reward Eskom inefficiency while failing to balance this with consumer affordability.

And, Nigerian protests fizzle out after deadly police crackdown

Protests in Nigeria over the soaring cost of living ebbed today, with only a few hundred people turning out in major cities following a deadly crackdown by security forces since the demonstrations began last week.

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in the capital Abuja, Lagos and other big cities during the protests against economic hardship and crime, which started on Thursday and were meant to continue until August 10.

Amnesty International said at least 13 people have been killed in clashes with police since the start of the protests, which were dubbed "#10DaysOfRage". Police put the death toll at seven, saying some of the fatalities were caused by accidents and an explosive device.

A tough police response and a call for a protest pause by President Bola Tinubu appeared to have dampened the demonstrations, which came weeks after data showed annual inflation hit a 28-year high of 34.19% in June.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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