Go 2 December 2021

4 GOT A NEWS STORY? Call our news desk on (043) 702 2125 or (043) 702 2046. Find us on Facebook 2 December 2021 GO & EXPRESS
Mambo’s
New Homeware Range
Petrol clocks past
R20/l for first time
MATTHEW FIELD
Your home is your
sanctuary of peace for
your mind, body and soul.
Make it even more
beautiful with our
new homeware range,
affordably priced and
fashionably chosen
20%
OFF
ALL SCATTER CUSHIONS & SCENTED CANDLES
30 NOVEMBER - 15 DECEMBER
The department of mineral
resources and energy
(DMRE) had to issue a
hasty correction on Wednesday
after admitting that there had
been a mistake in calculating
the increased fuel price.
The original announcement
said that the price of petrol
would increase by 81c/l.
However, the department
said this was higher than the
actual increase, which was
75c/l.
“The department of mineral
resources and energy regrets to
announce that the adjustment
of petrol price announced on
November 29 was erroneous,”
the DMRE said in a statement.
“The 6c difference is due to
the fact that the adjustment of
wages for service station
workers had already been
implemented in September
2021.
“Although it is the first time
such an error has occurred in
the history of basic fuel price
determination in SA, the DMRE
profusely apologises for the
inconvenience caused.”
This will be of little comfort
to consumers, with petrol
prices cracking the dreaded
R20/l mark for the first time
after what seems like a year of
regular price hikes.
IT STILL WORKS: The latest
Covid-19 variant won’t weaken
the effectiveness of current
vaccines, Prof Salim Karim said
Picture: PIXABAY
RECORD HIGH: The latest round of fuel price hikes pushed
the cost of petrol over the dreaded R20/litre mark for the first
time on Wednesday Picture: PIXABAY
From Wednesday
December 1, 93 unleaded and
95 grade petrol now costs
R20.07 and R20.29 a litre
r e s p e c t ive l y.
High-sulphur diesel
increased by 73c/l, low-sulphur
by 75c/l, making their
respective per-litre costs
R17.92 and R17.98.
Illuminating parrafin rose by
42.20c/l.
According to the Central
Energy Fund, the reasons for
the increases were the rising oil
price and a weakened rand.
Between October 28 and
November 25, the rand fell to
R15.58 against the US dollar,
nearly a rand lower than the
previous period reviewed.
Energy minister Gwede
Mantashe has also approved a
17.84c/l net increase in the
annual margin adjustments on
petrol as well as an increase of
8.20c/l on diesel and
illuminating paraffin.
December 1 also saw the
introduction of a Slate Levy of
41.66c/l being imposed on
petrol and diesel.
luxurious towels
ambo s
STORAGE & HOME
WESTERN CAPE: RETREAT - GREEN POINT - PARKLANDS - TABLE VIEW - KENILWORTH
CAPE GATE - BELLVILLE - PAARL - SOMERSET WEST - GEORGE
EASTERN CAPE: BEACON BAY - BAYWEST - VINCENT
BLOEMFONTEIN: VALUE MART - LANGENHOVEN PARK
Shop online: mambos.store
Ideal for Birthdays,
Anniversaries & Christmas gifts
PRICE
MATCH
FIND A LOWER PRICE
WE’LL MATCH IT
Vaccines still strong against
new variant – Prof Karim
TANYA FARBER
It could take between two and four weeks to nail
down the facts about Omicron itself, but
according to Prof Salim Abdool Karim, “current
va c c i n e s ’ effectiveness against hospitalisation
and disease is likely to remain strong”.
Speaking at a governmental press briefing on
Monday, Abdool Karim said that we don’t yet
know this “d e f i n i t ive l y ” but can extrapolate
“based on what we know and how other variants
of concern have reacted to the vaccines”.
He said while this issue of vaccines is “the
area that has created concern and is behind the
global over-reaction” there is cautious but
positive news.
He added, “What we do know — and this
comes from many different studies — is that
even over time the protection of the vaccines
against variants has remained pretty good, above
90%”.
While more research is needed on this as
well as the variant’s effect on severe disease and
transmissibility, “there is much we can
extrapolate at this point based on mutations
familiar to us from previous variants”.
Diagnostics should “still function well”, but
we can “expect enhanced transmissibility”, said
Abdool Karim.
In terms of severity of illness, “we simply do
not have sound reliable information as yet but so
far there are no red flags. However, we can’t be
complacent”.
All “the usual public interventions” work and
must stay in place.
“We were not caught with our pants down.
As far back as September I outlined what I
anticipated the trajectory of the pandemic would
be, based on the three waves, and if we look at
that situation, the government invested in
building capacity to do genomic sequencing in
Africa and particularly in SA and that investment
has now paid dividends,” said Abdool Karim.
He added that we now need to “turn our
science success into a response success”. -
Ti m e s L I V E