South Africa Finance Minister Sounds Alarm Over Oil Spike

South Africa's finance minister Enoch Godongwana on March 5.Photographer: Betty Laura Zapata/Bloomberg

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By Anna Edwards and Lizzy Burden

March 5, 2026 at 8:48 AM UTC

Updated on

March 5, 2026 at 5:01 PM UTC

Sustained higher oil prices resulting from conflict in the Middle East may fuel inflation in South Africa, though the buffers built by the government should help keep its debt-consolidation plans on track, the finance minister said.

The price of Brent crude has jumped almost 16% this week as shipping flows ground to a halt in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil transits.