A severe shortage of liquefied petroleum gas has crippled the gas trade in the Western Cape, the Cape Argus reported on Thursday.
Its website quoted retailers as saying the gas supply had run out and they were not sure when the situation would be resolved.
At the root of the trouble was the Chevron refinery, which supplies bulk buyers BP and Afrox in the Western Cape.
”There is now absolutely no product coming in for the next week or so,” said one gas supplier.
The supplier, who asked not to be named, said local producer Chevron ”needs to explain themselves to the industry and their consumers”.
Restaurants and consumers who converted all their cooking and heating appliances to gas could be hit hard by the shortage.
Chevron spokesperson Phumi Nhlapo said the company had informed clients of the problem that had led to a ”severely limited” supply.
In mid-March, part of the Chevron refinery was shut down for ”planned maintenance”.
”The start-up was delayed because there was a lot of additional maintenance work that we discovered we had to do,” she said.
”We expect supply will be severely limited for one week while the issue is being resolved.” — Sapa