For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Lynne Davies.

Making headlines: SACP tells members to ignore ANC dual membership ultimatum; South Africa ramps up fuel imports from US as war jolts trade; And, Trump poised to expand refugee programme for white South Africans

SACP tells members to ignore ANC dual membership ultimatum

The South African Communist Party has strongly rejected recent directives from the African National Congress National Executive Committee requiring dual members to essentially choose sides ahead of the upcoming 2026 local government elections.

The SACP has decided to contest the elections as an independent party, which ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said was a conflict of interest.

The ANC told members with dual ANC-SACP membership to declare within 10-days, which party they will campaign for.

Describing the ANC’s directive as a serious anti-communist act, SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila warned that the ultimatum threatens to fundamentally alter the character of the long-standing Tripartite Alliance.

He said that while the SACP has “never considered the ANC an enemy” and has historically supported them, the new ANC directives have transformed “a tactical disagreement” into an administrative ultimatum.

South Africa ramps up fuel imports from US as war jolts trade

South Africa is boosting oil-product imports from the US to help replace lost supplies from the Middle East, in another example of how the conflict is reshaping trade and threatening higher costs for consumers.

Before the war, Africa’s top oil products importer sourced the bulk of its diesel, petrol and jet fuel from Gulf states — namely Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But with flows through the key Strait of Hormuz choked off and oil prices now much higher, the nation has been forced to turn elsewhere.

At least four tankers unloaded about 165 000 tons of refined fuels from the US this month in Durban, where most of South Africa’s imports land, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s roughly twice the amount of American crude and fuel imports the country received in January, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Another tanker has arrived in Durban and at least three more laden with American fuel are headed to the port before month-end, the data show. Switching to suppliers that are farther away can further add to import costs that have risen because of higher fuel prices and freight rates.

And, Trump poised to expand refugee programme for white South Africans

President Donald Trump's administration is considering more than doubling an annual refugee limit to bring more white South Africans into the US, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Trump paused refugee admissions from around the world when he took office in January 2025. Weeks later, he issued an executive order prioritising the resettlement of European-descended Afrikaners, saying they faced race-based persecution in majority-Black South Africa. South Africa’s government vehemently denies the claims.

The US Refugee Admissions Program was formally established in 1980 after hundreds of thousands of people fled wars in Vietnam and Cambodia. The programme expanded to provide safe haven to persecuted people around the globe. Trump has used it almost exclusively to bring white South Africans into the US, part of a broader upending of norms around humanitarian protection.

In recent weeks, US officials have discussed expanding the 7 500-person refugee cap by 10 000 to allow more South Africans of Afrikaner ethnicity to obtain refugee status, said people familiar with internal planning, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share non-public government discussions.

The White House referred questions to the US State Department. A State Department spokesperson did not confirm or deny the discussions around expanding the refugee admissions ceiling.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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