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Queueing cars waiting to buy fuel at a Shell petrol filling station. Picture: iStock In the news today, there are concerns that South Africa may face an actual fuel shortage due to the Middle East war. Meanwhile, a former ActionSA councillor says she has resigned after being forced to sign a contract that ties her to the party until the 2026 local government elections.

Furthermore, North West businessman Suliman Carrim has claimed he was caught up in the friendship between Hangwani Maumela and Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala. The South African Weather Service has warned of heatwave conditions, extreme temperatures, and fire danger risks across parts of the Northern Cape, Western Cape, and Eastern Cape.Full weather forecast here. Stay up to date withThe Citizen– More News, Your Way.

While the Middle East war is about to rocket fuel prices into the stratosphere – by between R4 and R6 a litre for petrol – an even bigger worry is that if the conflict drags on, South Africa may face an actual fuel shortage. The last time this happened – in the crisis caused by the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, in which oil producing countries stopped exports – there were queues at fuel stations across the world. This country almost ground to a halt, with the government being forced to introduce emergency rationing measures, including a ban on all fuel sales at night and over weekends, as well as a reduction in the national speed limit to just 80km/h. Today, many of those refineries have closed and dodgy dealings related to the fund, which is part of the Central Energy Fund group, are believed to have reduced South Africa’s emergency fuel back-ups significantly.