A call for members of the public not to panic over fuel shortages was made by Minister of Minerals and Energy Lindiwe Hendricks in the National Assembly on Tuesday morning.
Hendricks was responding to criticism from Freedom Front Plus MP Willie Spies and Democratic Alliance MP Hendrik Schmidt about the current fuel crisis particularly affecting the Western Cape and Gauteng.
Hendricks said the government has done ”everything” it can to ease the transition to cleaner — unleaded — fuels in January.
”Even the industry assured me that there is nothing wrong with [government] policy,” she said.
When the fuel shortages occurred, the government called a special meeting with ”the captains of the industry”. They acknowledged that the problems have been caused by ”bad planning on their part” relating to the conversion of refineries, she said.
Panic buying
In Gauteng, the problem has been exacerbated by panic buying among motorists who do not even need to fill up with fuel — but the minister assured the public that two refiners in Durban are running at 100% capacity, as are two inland refiners. The Caltex refinery in Cape Town is running at 80% capacity.
Fuel is being transported from Durban to where there are shortages, she said.
”What I don’t want is panic … that we don’t have physical stock.”
On Tuesday, South African Petroleum Industry Association director Colin McClelland said: ”People who are unable to find petrol in their areas should phone oil companies to find out where they will be making deliveries.”
Oil companies will be doing their ”level best” to keep petrol stations along the major arterial routes supplied, he said.
Desperate city motorists could also drive out to the nearest highway filling station.
The situation inland constitutes ”an inconvenience rather than a crisis”, and motorists should not wait for their tanks to empty before filling up, McClelland said.
The provinces of KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and Free State ”should be OK”, with the Western Cape still bearing the brunt of the deficit, he said on Monday.
The Western Cape province’s agriculture minister, Cobus Dowry, warned on Tuesday that the shortage of diesel fuel in rural areas of the Western Cape could have a catastrophic effect on fruit harvesting.
”They [farming areas] are now severely hampered by the diesel shortage, which could have the undesired consequence of huge amounts of fruit being stockpiled and not reaching the markets or plants for processing or cooling.
”This might have catastrophic results for farmers and the broader farming communities in the rural areas, already burdened by drought conditions, thus affecting the local economies.”
Airways consider action
Airways are considering taking legal action against petroleum companies over the jet-fuel crisis that left their passengers stranded over the weekend.
South African Airways told South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) radio on Tuesday that it would release provisional loss figures.
The national carrier and Nationwide are considering litigation against petroleum companies, the SABC reported. Other airlines have not yet indicated what action they will take.
Cape Town International airport now has fuel stock until Thursday.
The shortage arose from technical problems after the country’s six refineries were closed for upgrading to comply with the country’s conversion to cleaner fuels from January 1. But Hendricks said the problems can also be partly blamed on an increase in demand prompted by a recent petrol-price drop.
The Chevron refinery in Cape Town said in a statement on Tuesday morning that although it is now producing and supplying diesel, it will be rationing the product while reserve stocks are being built up.
The situation will be reviewed on Thursday and a decision taken on whether rationing could be lifted.
McClelland said the shortage should be over in two weeks’ time.