Easter panic: Fuel rationing and long queues at the pump spread as prices set to hit historic highs

As motorists prepared for a painful spike in the price of petrol and diesel, AgriSA and the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) have called on the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to urgently consider a temporary adjustment to the current fuel pricing mechanism in response to emerging supply constraints in rural areas.

Latest prices

The projected fuel prices continue to spike, with the latest data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) showing that motorists could be paying more than R10 per litre for diesel, marking the first time in the country’s history.

The CEF’s under-recoveries at the end of the fourth week of March also indicate that petrol prices may increase by over R5 per litre.

According to the CEF’s data, the under-recovery in petrol prices has now reached between R5.32 and R5.81 per litre, while Diesel has soared to about R10.13 and R10.26 per litre.

Underrecoveries on illuminating paraffin are now amounting to R11.63 per litre.

Already long queues

The Citizen visited a few service stations where long queues of motorists were waiting to fill up their cars’ tanks. Some fuel stations had run dry, but were expecting delivery on Monday.

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Agri SA and Agbiz conducted a survey to determine the geographic location and extent of fuel shortages and restrictions at retail sites, the affected suppliers, and the prevailing price at each site.

The organisations said that across multiple regions, respondents reported constrained supply and increasing instances of rationing.

“Having received inputs from more than 1 000 producers and more than 100 fuel retailing sites, we have concluded that many regions have imposed daily restrictions.

“Concerns were also raised around ‘panic buying’, with many retailers experiencing a surge in demand from the farming sector for March. The combination of temporary supply constraints and increased demand led many retailers to impose restrictions ranging from 50 to 500 litres per client per day,” the organisations said.

Proposal

To stabilise the situation and reduce the risk of further disruption, AgriSA and Agbiz have proposed:

• An immediate, out-of-cycle fuel price adjustment to better reflect current market conditions;

• The introduction of more regular temporary reviews, instead of the standard monthly adjustment, for the duration of the current energy price volatility.

“This is in line with what associations representing fuel retailers have also asked for. These measures are not intended to increase costs to the sector, but rather to ensure that pricing reflects underlying conditions more accurately, thereby reducing incentives for panic buying or supply withholding,” the
organisations said.

Fuel rationing

Residents in the Cape Peninsula have been long feeling the pinch.

Reports of rationing at Garden Route service stations and delayed diesel deliveries last week have raised concern, particularly within the agricultural sector at a critical time in the farming calendar.

An image circulating shows fuel pumps carrying signs reading, “Due to current economic and supply constraints, fuel will be limited to 50L of diesel per vehicle/customer per day. No fuel is to be dispensed into containers.”

Don’t panic

On Wednesday, Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe urged South Africans not to panic about a possible fuel shortage, saying vessels carrying cargo and supplies destined for South Africa are passing through the Strait of Hormuz without interruption or threats of attacks from Iran.

Mantashe said Iran’s stated position should allay fears of immediate supply disruption, especially to South Africa.

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