Amid load shedding and water restrictions, SA is spiraling towards potential fuel shedding ⛽ due to a lack of strategic fuel reserves and refineries. Find out more here: loadshedding watershedding fuelshedding
The shortage of refineries means the country is increasingly reliant on imports, and supply line disruptions are a risk, as highlighted by the recent Transnet strike that affected operations at the Durban port.
“Every time the oil companies know that there is going to be a problem with a vessel because the shipping is late, the product is off-spec when we get it here and they test it, whether the ship gets here on time and it can’t get into the ports because there’s bad weather, immediately what happens is that they ration independent wholesalers.”“We don’t want to scare people so they start panic buying because that makes the problem worse than it really is.