Premier Alan Winde has identified fuel suppliers as those at fault for not releasing fuel to customers after isolated reports of shortages in the Western Cape emerged last week.
Winde said that while the province has recognised the very real concerns raised about the impact of the Middle East conflict on the fuel supply, there is no cause for concern.
The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) and the Fuel Industry Association of South Africa (FIASA) reiterated that South Africa’s fuel supply remains stable in the immediate term, and there is no basis for panic-buying.
“While there may be isolated localised logistical challenges affecting the movement or availability of fuel in certain areas, these are operational in nature and do not constitute a national supply shortage. These issues are being actively managed through established industry and regulatory channels.
“It is therefore incorrect and misleading to link such isolated domestic logistical matters to broader geopolitical developments. Such claims risk creating unnecessary alarm and confusion among the public,” they said.
Central Energy Fund data points to April petrol hikes of up to R4.74 per litre and diesel increases exceeding R7.73 per litre – with further deterioration possible if oil prices hold.
Winde previously said that the Provincial Disaster Management Centre is monitoring the situation, in coordination with FIASA, Agri Western Cape (Agri WC), Regional Disaster Management Centres, the Department of Health and Wellness: EMS, and Eskom.
The premier said they picked up the reports of shortages since last Tuesday.
“We have our joint operations command for foot-and-mouth, and for water. We started having this discussion last Tuesday in that command.
“I then called a separate meeting with the fuel industry, and so that’s where we are getting these conflicting messages. The fuel industry says we’ve got sufficient fuel, but we are getting messages on the ground, where it seems to me that there has been a hoarding of fuel.
“So suppliers are buying it at the old price, not selling it all, and they’ll get to sell it at the high price. That is unacceptable,” Winde said.
“We’ve been saying, you can’t restrict the economy like that.
“We understand there’s going to be a price increase, and that is just what happens, but we can’t hold fuel to try and make money. We’ve gotta make sure we are enabling the economy.
“We will be meeting again. I see some reprieve; some people have released more fuel, so I’m getting fewer complaints in certain areas, but I’m picking up complaints in other areas, and they’re busy working on it today,” Winde said.
“We’re trying to draw up a matrix of where those complaints are coming from so that we can ask the fuel industry to intervene, and if they don’t, then we are gonna have to go and find out.
“It’s unacceptable if you’re saying I’ve got an empty tank when you’ve actually got a full tank, and you should be giving litres of fuel to individual users.
“But also the same thing we’re saying to the suppliers, we’re also saying generally to the public, ‘don’t hoard’. Sure, over the next two weeks, go and put fuel in, but you must not also become a hoarder as well.”
The premier has said the Western Cape Government will continue monitoring the situation and will provide updates as necessary.
Theolin Tembo
iol.co.za