A R500 million road upgrade in South Africa, and hackers can remotely operate a bakkie

Prices for one of South Africa’s favourite bakkies – the Ford Ranger – have increased by anywhere from R95,000 to over R200,000 in just four years.

After making its debut late in 2022, the current-generation model has established itself as one of the best-selling vehicles in the local market, selling thousands of units every month.

Ford also produces the popular bakkie locally, at its Silverton plant outside Pretoria, assembling the bakkie for both the domestic market and for exports to several global regions, including Europe.

However, while it continues to dominate the sales charts, the Ranger’s price tag has increased at an alarming rate due to inflation.

Meanwhile, global Brent crude oil prices have remained relatively flat over the weekend, with a single barrel costing $108 this morning.

According to Bloomberg, A Saudi helicopter crashed near the border with Yemen, and Houthi rebels targeted Yanbu, a crucial export hub, while UK maritime operations said two tankers reported being hit in the Persian Gulf.

Reuters reported that US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday waiving key sanctions and tariffs under the law known as the Graham Act.

The Act was signed last month at the urging of lawmakers who wanted to pressure Moscow over its war in Ukraine.

Despite these developments, Persian Gulf oil flows have recovered to about 80% of their pre-conflict level, although refined-product shipments remained constrained. 

The rand remained steady over the weekend and is still trading at R16.45 against the US dollar at the start of the week.

5 important things

R530 million road upgrade for a small South African town: The coastal town of Mossel Bay in the Western Cape has completed a R530-million upgrade to Louis Fourie Road, which took four years. The project, run by the Western Cape Government Department of Infrastructure, represents one of the largest single government infrastructure investments in the Garden Route District Municipality [TopAuto].

Hackers can remotely operate electric vehicles in South Africa: Australian cybersecurity firm FortifyLabs demonstrated earlier this year that the BYD Shark 6 Premium could be compromised via its digital systems, granting attackers remote access to the car. It is the same model as the Shark 6 available in South Africa [MyBroadband].

South Africa’s most valuable bank bets R9 billion on the Gautrain: South Africa’s Gautrain system is planning an R9 billion investment as the service looks to expand and improve its infrastructure. The planned investment was underwritten by Standard Bank, which said the R9 billion would be used to “operate, maintain, upgrade and modernise the Gautrain” [BusinessTech].

Dark streets and traffic lights that don’t work in South Africa’s richest province: Gauteng is falling apart, and one sign is that many streets, highways, and neighbourhoods are without lights. Civil society groups, motorist advocacy bodies, and transport analysts have condemned the dark stretches on Gauteng’s highways and arterials [Newsday].

2028 Mercedes-AMG GT SUV packs 1,153HP and 2.4-second acceleration: The all-electric Mercedes-AMG GT SUV is AMG’s first full-size model developed entirely in Affalterbach. Nadine Schütt, Mercedes-AMG product manager, said that the company’s all-new model is “an SUV by shape, but a GT by nature” [Autoweek].