Warning for estates that scan drivers’ licences in South Africa, and a new Mitsubishi Pajero

World-renowned local musician Black Coffee has won a court case against supercar brand Maserati over an undelivered vehicle valued at roughly R9 million.

In 2022, the award-winning musician bought a Maserati MC20 Coupé for approximately R7 million, and two years later, he agreed with the same dealership to trade it in for a customised, top-of-the-range MC20 Cielo.

The dealer told him that the custom vehicle was only set to go into production in August, with no estimated delivery date, prompting him to request to cancel the deal and repay the trade-in amount.

While all of this has been going on, global Brent crude oil prices fell to $94 – a 2% decrease from the previous session.

Yesterday, the US announced new restrictions on around 60 entities, including Tehran’s oil‑revenue generation networks and vessels moving petroleum products.

The announcement was followed by an oil price decrease soon after, as the threat of more stringent secondary sanctions didn’t materialise.

The sanctions have immediately damaged Iran’s economy, but its Economy Minister Seyed Ali Madanizadeh told state TV that the country is “fully prepared”, despite facing mounting fuel shortages.

Overnight, the South African rand remained unfazed and stayed at R16.03 against the greenback, signalling ongoing investor confidence in the local market.

5 important things

R200 for a full tank of petrol in South Africa: The last time the average South African motorist could fill their car for R200 was in August 2004, assuming they owned a vehicle with a 50-litre petrol tank. This is according to Stats SA, which published a 50-year analysis of the country’s petrol prices [TopAuto].

Warning for estates that scan driver’s licences in South Africa: Private estates and business parks can refuse entry to a person with an expired car licence disc—but this doesn’t extend to residents or property owners. Johlene Wasserman at Van Deventer Dowlath & Marx Inc. said that while an estate is not allowed to refuse entry to residents or property owners, it does have policies governing whether others may enter [BusinessTech].

EU’s curbs threaten 27% of Chinese exports to Bloc: The European Union’s existing and proposed trade measures against China could cover about 27% of its annual nominal exports to the bloc, according to Goldman Sachs, highlighting the stakes involved in the standoff between the two economies [Bloomberg].

Mitsubishi Pajero set for comeback with digital-era updates:  Mitsubishi confirmed the 2 September global debut of the fifth-generation Pajero with a teaser website touting a digital-era update with modern passenger comforts that remains true to the SUV’s off-road rally racing roots “without a single compromise” [Auto News].

Trump threatens 50% tariffs on all cars and trucks from Canada amid trade fight: President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to raise US tariffs on all cars, ​trucks, and automotive parts from Canada to 50% starting January 1, 2027, escalating a trade fight after negotiations collapsed last week [Reuters].