South Africans have been forced to endure, and absorb, some devastating fuel-price news since the start of 2018. And the bad news could keep flowing. This was the unhappy message contained in a statement released by the South African Petroleum Industry Association following the Department of Energy’s confirmation of massive hikes from October 3. The association, which includes all the large oil companies, said it expected “high fuel prices to persist for some time, given high global oil prices caused, amongst other reasons, by looming US sanctions against Iran, and the relatively weak rand”.