By Lebone Rodah Mosima

Tuesday’s fuel hike announcement triggered warnings on Wednesday from taxi operators, farming groups, motorists, labour and opposition parties that transport and food costs would increase further, even after government cut the general fuel levy by R3 a litre for a month.

The April adjustment increased petrol 93 and 95 by R3.06 a litre, diesel 0.05% sulphur by R7.37 a litre, and diesel 0.005% sulphur by R7.51 a litre.

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Government said the spike reflected higher global oil prices linked to the US-Iran conflict, higher shipping costs and a weaker rand.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) minister Gwede Mantashe said the general fuel levy would be temporarily reduced from 1 April to 5 May, taking it to R1.10 a litre for petrol and R0.93 for diesel, at an estimated revenue cost of about R6 billion for the month.

They said this would be re-evaluated monthly for the next two months and that additional support for households and key sectors was being prepared.

Pressure for intervention had been building before Tuesday’s announcement.

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Business groups and trade unions last week pressed government to act prior to the announcement. The DA, Cosatu, Business Leadership South Africa and the Fuel Industry Association were among those calling for levy relief ahead of the increase.

SANTACO said on Wednesday that the relief was welcome but insufficient for an industry that runs mainly on diesel.

It said associations nationwide were assessing the hit to operating costs and profit margins and would communicate directly with commuters on any fare adjustments. Increases would be handled “with caution, transparency, and responsibility”, it said.

The DA welcomed the levy reduction but said it was not enough.

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DA finance spokesperson Mark Burke said the bigger problem was an overtaxed public and excessive government spending.

The EFF also said the levy cut was only a partial and temporary concession. The party said fuel costs were being used as a taxation tool and that it would continue its legal challenge to the levy system.

An official MK Party statement posted by its parliamentary caucus called for “immediate fuel price relief and structural energy reform”.

The Automobile Association welcomed the temporary levy reduction and said it would keep lobbying for the relief to be extended.

AA chief executive Bobby Ramagwede told SABC that the issue was government spending. The monthly fiscal cost of the levy cut was manageable compared with the damage higher fuel prices could do to consumers and the economy, he said.

Agriculture groups warned that the fuel shock would feed directly into food prices.

AgriSA and Agbiz said the levy cut was timely and important, but that more would be needed because fuel accounts for about 12% to 18% of production costs in many farming systems.

They said producers were also facing supply constraints and rising fertiliser costs.

They called for more flexible fuel-price reviews, transparency on national fuel stocks, consideration of a temporary RAF levy cut and a full diesel rebate for primary users.

Civil society also said the intervention fell short of what was needed.

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) welcomed the levy cut but said it “came too late”.

“South Africans and businesses were left in the dark while the scale of the impending increases became clear well before month-end; in fact, it was already becoming apparent by mid-month. With petrol increases projected at around R5 per litre and up to R10 per litre for diesel, there was enough information available for earlier action,” it said.

“Government cannot keep reacting at the last minute while households and businesses carry the uncertainty,” said OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage.

“The next fuel price adjustment is due on 6 May. Government has an opportunity to restore some confidence by acting decisively and communicating clearly ahead of time,” he said.

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All Tshwane bus services have been grounded due to a fuel shortage.

Since Tuesday, bus service depots were reported to have run out of fuel.

This led to a substantially reduced number of buses on the road and widespread disruptions to scheduled trips.

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Tshwane Roads and Transport MMC Tlangi Mogale said she was at the bus service depot.

Mogale apologised for the inconvenience caused to commuters.

“Unfortunately, we were unable to continue with our operations this morning, and we want to apologise for any challenges that this may have caused [to passengers.]”

She said all bus operations would resume on Wednesday afternoon.

“The first delivery at 10 am will be at the C de Wet Depot, which runs the biggest shifts of 102. It will be followed by Jan Niamand Depot and then Pretoria North. This delivery will be for the full capacity, and we will be back to full bus operations for the afternoon and throughout the week,” Mogale said.

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The president’s social media post came after U.S. strikes hit a city that is home to one of Iran’s main nuclear sites, sending a massive fireball into the sky, and Tehran attacked a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker in the Persian Gulf.

The attacks showed the intensity of the war more than a month after the U.S. and Israel launched it. The conflict has left more than 3,000 dead and caused major disruptions to the world’s supply of oil and natural gas, roiling global markets.

Trump, who has vacillated between insisting there is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war, had earlier shared footage of the attack on Isfahan. The central city is home to one of three nuclear enrichment sites attacked by the U.S. in June, and analysts believe much of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is likely stored there.

The war is roiling oil market

Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway leading out of Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported during peacetime, has driven up global oil prices, as have Tehran’s attacks on regional energy infrastructure. That has shaken stock markets around the world and pushed up the cost of many basic goods.

Spot prices of Brent crude, the international standard, hovered around $107 a barrel Tuesday, up more than 45% since the war started Feb. 28.

Trump directed blame at U.S. allies like the United Kingdom and France that have refused to enter a war with no clear endgame that they were not consulted on.

“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially, decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!” Trump wrote.

He singled out France for not letting planes taking military supplies to Israel fly over French territory, saying the country has been “VERY UNHELPFUL,” and that “The U.S.A. will REMEMBER!!!”

Allies have refused to get involved

The French military has previously said France allowed the U.S. Air Force to use the Istres base in southern France, because it had guarantees that only planes not involved in carrying out strikes would land there.

Spain, which has emerged as Europe’s loudest critic of the war, said Monday that it had closed its airspace for U.S. planes involved in the conflict.

Italy has refused permission for U.S. military assets to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily for an operation linked to the offensive in the Middle East, an official with knowledge of the matter said, confirming a local press report.

The denial was issued a few days ago and concerned American aircraft, including bombers, which were supposed to land at the base before continuing toward the Middle East, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The Italian government later insisted that its relationship with the U.S. is “solid and based on full and loyal cooperation.”

Israel and the US launch a new wave of strikes on Iran

Israel and the U.S. launched a wave of strikes on Iran, hitting Tehran in the early morning. Israel also said it had launched a new wave of strikes targeting what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut.

The video shared by Trump appeared to show a massive attack on Isfahan, and NASA fire-tracking satellites suggest explosions happened in a mountainous region on the city’s southern edge. Iran has not confirmed the attack.

A satellite image taken just before the June war suggests Tehran transferred a truckload of highly enriched uranium to a nuclear facility about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Tuesday’s strikes.

Analysts believe the truck — which the image showed going into a tunnel loaded with 18 blue containers — likely carried most or all of Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% purity. That’s a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels.

Trump warned this week that if a ceasefire is not reached “shortly,” and if the strait is not reopened, the U.S. would broaden its offensive, including by attacking the Kharg Island oil export hub and possibly desalination plants.

Speaking at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would not say if U.S. ground forces would enter the war.

“We don’t want to have to do more militarily than we have to,” he said. “But I didn’t mean it flippantly when I said, in the meantime, we’ll negotiate with bombs.”

Iran hits oil tanker in waters off Dubai
An Iranian drone hit a Kuwaiti oil tanker off the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai, sparking a blaze that was later put out, the Dubai Media Office said. Authorities said no oil spill resulted.

Four people were also wounded when debris from an intercepted drone fell into a residential area, and loud explosions could be heard later from another attack on Dubai.

Air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain, while Saudi Arabia said it intercepted three ballistic missiles launched toward its capital. Loud explosions were also heard in Israel not long after the military warned of an incoming missile barrage from Iran.

In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.

Two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank. In Lebanon, officials said more than 1,200 people have been killed, and more than 1 million displaced.

Ten Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon, including the four announced Tuesday, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.

AP

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European officials struck a new deal with Israel to allow desperately needed food and fuel into Gaza, the European Union’s foreign policy chief said Thursday as Israeli airstrike killed 10 children and five adults waiting for care outside a medical clinic.

The announcement came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to leave Washington after meetings with President Donald Trump, apparently without finalizing a temporary ceasefire advocated by the White House.

Netanyahu said Israel continues to pursue a deal for a 60-day pause in the fighting and the release of half of the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, many of them believed dead.

Once that deal is in place, Israel is prepared to negotiate a permanent end to the war, Netanyahu said — but only on condition that Hamas disarms and gives up its governing and military capabilities in Gaza.

“If this can be achieved through negotiations — so much the better,” he said in a video statement. “If it is not achieved through negotiations in 60 days, we will achieve it in other ways; by using force, the force of our heroic army.”

Still, U.S. officials held out hope that restarting high-level negotiations — mediated by Egypt and Qatar and including White House envoy Steve Witkoff — could bring progress.

“We’re closer than we’ve been in quite a while and we’re hopeful, but we also recognize there’s still some challenges in the way,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters during a stop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Deal to increase aid

Thursday’s agreement could result in “more crossings open, aid and food trucks entering Gaza, repair of vital infrastructure and protection of aid workers,” said Kaja Kallas, the 27-member EU’s top diplomat.

“We count on Israel to implement every measure agreed,” she said in a post on social media.

Aid groups say Israeli military restrictions and recurring violence have made it difficult to deliver assistance in Gaza even after Israel eased its 2 1/2 month total blockade in May. Experts have warned that the territory is at risk of famine, 21 months into the Israel-Hamas war.

Kallas said the deal would reactivate aid corridors from Jordan and Egypt and reopen community bakeries and kitchens across Gaza. She said measures would be taken to prevent the militant Hamas group from diverting aid.

Israel has long accused Hamas of stealing aid and selling it to finance militant activities. The United Nations says there is no evidence for widespread diversion.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar acknowledged the deal while attending a conference in Vienna, saying it came “following our dialogue with the EU.” He said the deal includes “more trucks, more crossings and more routes for the humanitarian efforts.”

Neither Saar not Kallas said whetehr the aid would go through the U.N.-run system or an alternative, U.S.- and Israeli-backed mechanism that has been marred by violence and controversy.

Israeli strikes kill at least 36

Israeli strikes pounded the Gaza Strip overnight, killing at least 36 Palestinians, including 15 people waiting outside a medical clinic, local hospitals and aid workers said Thursday. The Israeli military said one soldier was killed in Gaza.

Gaza’s Nasser Hospital reported a total of 21 deaths in airstrikes in the southern town of Khan Younis and the nearby coastal area of Muwasi. It said three children and their mother, as well as two other women, were among the dead.

The 15 killed early Thursday outside the clinic in the central city of Deir al-Balah were waiting for nutritional supplements, according to Project Hope, an aid group that runs the humanitarian facility. Along with the 10 childrenm two women were also among those killed.

“No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” said Dr. Mithqal Abutaha, the group’s project manager, who was at another clinic at the time. “People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.”

Following the strike, families gathered in the morgue of Al-Aqsa Hospital to pray over the bodies of those killed, laid across the floor.

Omar Meshmesh held the body of his 3-year-old niece Aya Meshmesh. “What did she ever do? Did she throw a rocket at them or throw something at them? … she’s an innocent child,” he said.

Israel’s military said it struck near the clinic while targeting a militant it said had entered Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. It said it was investigating.

Another Israeli soldier killed

Israeli troops have been working in Khan Younis to dismantle more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites over the past week, including a 500-meter (yard) tunnel, missile launch sites, and weapons storage facilities, the military said.

Also Thursday, the military said an Israeli soldier was killed in Khan Younis the day before, after militants burst out of an underground tunnel and tried to abduct him. The soldier was shot and killed, while troops in the area shot the militants, hitting several of them, the military said.

Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks, one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months, putting additional public pressure on Netanyahu to end the war.

West Bank violence

Two Palestinian attackers killed a 22-year-old Israeli man at an Israeli supermarket in a settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Thursday afternoon, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services.

Israeli police said two people in a stolen vehicle attacked a security guard at the supermarket. Paramedics said people on site shot and killed the two attackers. Police did not release information about the attackers, but the Israeli military said forces are setting up roadblocks around the Palestinian town of Halhul, around 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the supermarket.

Earlier Thursday, a 55-year-old Palestinian man was killed in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry. The Israeli military said the man was shot after stabbing a soldier in the village of Rumana. The soldier suffered moderate wounds.

The war in Gaza has sparked a surge of violence in the West Bank, with the Israeli military targeting militants in large-scale operations that have killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced tens of thousands.

That has coincided with a rise in settler violence and Palestinian attacks on Israelis. Palestinian militants from the West Bank have also attacked and killed Israelis in Israel and the West Bank.

The war began after Hamas attacked Israel in 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Most have been released in earlier ceasefires. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants. The U.N. and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

AP

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The International Air Transport Association said on Sunday it expects the amount of sustainable aviation fuel produced to double in 2025 to reach 2 million tonnes, representing 0.7% of airlines’ fuel consumption.

Influential industry body IATA has increasingly been warning that airlines will struggle to meet their sustainability goals, and has described the production of SAF – which is more expensive than conventional jet fuel – as disappointingly slow.

IATA Director General Willie Walsh said that while the production increase was encouraging, the relatively small amount will add $4.4 billion globally to aviation’s fuel bill.

“The pace of progress in ramping up production and gaining efficiencies to reduce costs must accelerate,” Walsh said in a statement.

The broader aviation sector agreed in 2021 to target net-zero emissions in 2050 based mainly on a gradual switch to SAF, which is made from waste oil and biomass.

Airlines are at odds with energy companies over scarce supplies of SAF, while also pointing the finger at plane makers Airbus and Boeing over delays in delivering more fuel-efficient jets.

Reuters

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South Africa’s annual inflation rate fell for the first time in five months in March to its lowest level since June 2020, due to a drop in fuel costs and softer price rises for tuition.

Headline consumer inflation eased to 2.7% year-on-year from 3.2% in February, below the 2.9% expected by economists polled by Reuters, and outside the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) 3% to 6% target range.

A breakdown by Statistics South Africa showed the fuel index was down 8.8% last month.

Education fees, which are surveyed once a year in March, increased 4.5%, slower than the previous year’s 6.4% rise.

Some analysts thought the latest inflation numbers gave the central bank scope to cut interest rates at its next monetary policy meeting in May.

“There is ample room for the (central bank) to cut rates further to support the economy, to soften the hit from the global trade war,” Elize Kruger, a South Africa-based independent economist, said.

The SARB left its key lending rate unchanged at its last meeting in March after three consecutive cuts, citing risks from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the country’s disputed national budget.

It stuck to that cautious tone in a biannual review of its monetary policy last week.

Elna Moolman at Standard Bank saw signs of weakness in the residential rental market in Wednesday’s release, which she said was helping keep inflationary pressures benign.

However, the SARB’s concerns around global tariffs and a weaker local currency meant further rate cuts may not necessarily happen soon, she said.

Reuters

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With travel increasing dramatically in the lead up to Christmas, international travellers have been urged to arrive at OR Tambo International Airport three hours before their departure, instead of the usual two hours.

Addressing the media on various measures implemented for the festive season, the Airports Company South Africa and the Border Management Authority also urged domestic travellers to arrive an hour earlier.

ACSA CEO Mpumi Mpofu said that as during Covid-19, they were advising passengers to arrive two hours before they departed on local flights.

She said ACSA’s projections indicated that 119,696 international and 262,108 domestic passengers were expected between Thursday and 24 December. The busiest day was expected to be Friday, with 20,886 international and 39,423 domestic travellers.

On top of the increased pressure at airports this time of year, Or Tambo saw a faulty jet fuel shaft causing delays last week. There was also an issue with BMA’s biometric movement control system.

BMA commissioner Michael Masiapato told reporters that they had deployed additional biometric systems at the airport to prevent further delays

ACSA and BMA have been conducting joint and regular training exercises to ensure that their teams are well prepared to handle a wide range of security scenarios.

The South African Police Service is collaborating with both teams.

Crime intelligence, customs, the Hawks, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department and retailers have been fully prepared to cope with additional demands that come with higher volumes of passengers and airport users.

Mpofu expressed ACSA’s disappointment about the events, saying “the rigorous planning that came into place basically did not anticipate the events that actually did occur”.

The jet fuel shaft has been analysed by engineers, who want further details from ACSA.

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South Africa’s inflation rate rose less than expected in November, staying just below the central bank’s target range thanks to food inflation slowing to its lowest level in almost 14 years.

Headline consumer inflation was 2.9% year on year in November from 2.8% in October. In month-on-month terms, inflation was at 0.0% in November, compared with -0.1% in October, Statistics South Africa data showed.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast headline inflation would accelerate to 3.1% in annual terms. The South African Reserve Bank targets inflation of between 3% and 6%, aiming for the midpoint of that band.

“We expect inflation will continue to edge higher over the coming months. But it is likely to remain contained and stay below the 4.5% target midpoint,” Jason Tuvey, deputy chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, said.

The central bank last month cut its main lending rate by 25 basis points (bps) for the second meeting in a row, after inflation dropped below the target range in October for the first time in years.

Tuvey said a 50-bps cut was not out of the question at the central bank’s next policy meeting in January.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation slowed to 2.3% year on year in November from 3.6% one month earlier, the lowest rate of price increases for that category since December 2010, the statistics agency said.

But a month-on-month increase in fuel prices pushed the November headline inflation figure higher in annual terms.

Annual core inflation, which excludes food and fuel prices, also came in below expectations at 3.7% in November compared with 3.9% one month earlier.

Reuters

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South Africa’s inflation rate dropped sharply in October to its lowest level since the peak of the COVID pandemic, data showed on Wednesday, buttressing expectations for another interest rate cut by the central bank this week.

Statistics South Africa said falling fuel prices were the primary driver of the slowdown in annual inflation to 2.8% from 3.8% in September, with slowing food inflation another important factor.

October’s reading is the lowest inflation has been since June 2020, when South Africans were subject to one of the harshest COVID lockdowns worldwide. Inflation has only been below 3% in a handful of months in the past two decades.

Independent economist Elize Kruger said fuel and food price developments play a greater role in October, a month when there are typically fewer changes in the prices of other items.

South Africa’s government-regulated petrol and diesel prices fell by more than one rand a litre in October.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast inflation would slow to 3.1%, well below the 4.5% level the South African Reserve Bank aims for, but just within its 3%-6% target range.

South Africa’s central bank will announce its next interest rate decision on Thursday.

In a Reuters poll published last week, all of the 22 economists surveyed predicted the bank would lower its repo rate. Twenty of the 22 predicted a 25 basis points (bps) cut and two a 50 bps reduction.

Several economists said on Wednesday that they were still expecting a 25 bps cut, the same size of reduction as in September, when the central bank cut rates for the first time in more than four years.

Johann Els, chief economist at Old Mutual, argued Wednesday’s data showed there was now very little inflationary pressure in the South African economy and the central bank should opt for a 50 bps cut.

One reason a bigger cut is not widely expected on Thursday is a recent bout of rand weakness in the wake of Donald Trump’s U.S. election victory. One reason a bigger cut is not widely expected on Thursday is a recent bout of rand weakness in the wake of Donald Trump’s U.S. election victory.

Reuters

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As the price of fuel soared in Ethiopia earlier this year, Awgachew Seleshi decided to buy an electric car. That aligned with the government’s new efforts to phase out gas-powered vehicles. But months later, he’s questioning whether it was the right decision.

He faces a range of issues, from the erratic supply of electricity in Addis Ababa, the capital, to the scarcity of spare parts.

“Charging my car has been a challenge,” the civil servant said. “Spare parts that are imported from China are expensive, few mechanics are able to fix such cars and the resale value of such cars is poor.”

Seleshi’s troubles point to wider challenges for Ethiopia. In January, the East African country became the first in the world to ban the importation of non-electric private vehicles.

The decision eased pressure on authorities who spend scarce foreign currency to subsidize the cost of fuel, but it also reflected growing enthusiasm for electric vehicles as the world demands more green technologies to reduce climate-changing emissions.

Earlier this month, Ethiopia’s government raised the price of fuel by up to 8% as part of a plan to gradually end all fuel subsidies in Africa’s second-most populous country.

Authorities have claimed some success in enforcing the ban on non-electric vehicles entering Ethiopia, and more than 100,000 electric cars are now being imported into the country each month.

The official target is to increase the monthly import figure to 500,000 by 2030. By that time, a big new dam Ethiopia has built on the Nile River is expected to be producing power at full capacity.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in a televised address earlier this year, said the Grand Renaissance Dam will start generating more than 5,000 megawatts of electric power within a year. Authorities say such capacity would support the transition to electric vehicles.

For now, many in Addis Ababa, a city of more than 5 million people, are doubtful the country can achieve its ambitious goals for electric vehicles without further needed infrastructure and services.

The few garage owners who can fix broken electric cars say they are overwhelmed, while customers say they are being overcharged amid an apparent lack of competition.

“There are two or three garages that can fix new energy vehicles in Ethiopia and many consumers lack awareness on how to take care of such vehicles,” said Yonas Tadelle, a mechanic in Addis Ababa. “As mechanics, we also lack the tools, the spare parts and the know-how to fix such cars.”

Many EVs are now parked in garages and parking lots awaiting parts expected to come from China.

Ethiopia’s minister in charge of transport, Bareo Hassen Bareo, has said he believes the country can be a model nation with a green economy legacy, with the prioritization of electric vehicles a key component.

The government will invest in public charging stations, he told The Associated Press, and there are plans to create a plant manufacturing EV batteries locally to reduce reliance on imports.

Private efforts have included a collaboration, which has since fizzled, between Olympian Haile Gebreselassie and South Korean carmaker Hyundai to make electric vehicles in Ethiopia. That effort is believed to have collapsed over the sourcing of materials.

Samson Berhane, an economist based in Addis Ababa, said the sudden flood of electric vehicles into the local market despite poor infrastructure is making it difficult for customers to adapt comfortably. Some EVs sell for about $20,000.

“Very few people are willing to take the risk of buying electric cars due to the lack of infrastructure, shortage of mechanics specialized in EV maintenance and the flooding of the market with Chinese brands that have questionable details and long-term visibility,” Berhane said.

But he said he believes that Ethiopia is more than able to provide electricity to the expected 500,000 EV’s there within the next decade while fulfilling its industrial ambitions.

Some Ethiopians are already giving up on electric vehicles, and the secondhand trade in gasoline-powered vehicles continues. There are at least 1.2 million vehicles across Ethiopia, and only a small fraction are electric ones.

Businessman Yared Alemayehu bought a Chinese-made electric vehicle that he had hoped to use for a taxi service. He knew the car had a mechanical defect, but he believed it could be fixed. A mechanic disagreed.

In the end, he sold the car at a loss and bought a Toyota Corolla — a car made in 2007 that he felt was more reliable — for the equivalent of $20,000, a sum that included the hefty taxes imposed on gasoline vehicles. Taxes can be higher than the cost of importing the vehicle.

“In addition to having to charge my old electric car, it frequently broke, and the garage was overcharging, and the lineup at the garage was overwhelming us,” he said.

Taxi driver Dereje Hailu, who had high hopes for his Chinese-made E-Star electric vehicle when he purchased it earlier this year, said his expectations had been dashed.

“With such a car, I fear I might be stuck if I go far from Addis Ababa where there are no charging stations,” he said.

AP

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