The Democratic Alliance (DA) remains extremely concerned at the lack of response from the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, his Department and Parliament, regarding the ongoing diesel shortages being experienced around South Africa.
Gauteng is amongst the worst hit, with numerous wholesalers and retailers reportedly “dry”, and others experiencing difficulty in obtaining resupply.
Although production has ramped up at the refineries and product imports having arrived in our ports, the fact remains that it will still take at least a week for those products to reach inland markets.
This situation has been exacerbated by the theft of parts of the multi-product pipeline from Durban to Gauteng (which has now reportedly resumed operations).
Neither the Minister, nor the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy, Sahlulele Luzipo MP, have responded to our request for an urgent briefing on what is being done to mitigate this crisis.
South Africa’s economy (and particularly our mining, agriculture and transport sectors, all of which could be considered the “life blood” of our economy) is being hamstrung by Government ineptitude.
It is clear that the situation with regard to diesel availability is worsening, despite industry and Government protestations to the contrary and in spite of promises that normal supply would be restored by the end of May.
Mantashe and the heads of South Africa’s refineries must immediately brief the country on what the true status is, and when we can really expect to have normal stock levels again.