Minister Gwede Mantashe should give South Africans the facts about the state of our fuel reserves.
Mineral and Petroleum Resources minister Gwede Mantashe has said there’s no need to panic about potential shortages of fuel caused by the war in the Persian Gulf. He gave that assurance at an oil and gas conference yesterday. But he avoided revealing the state of South Africa’s fuel reserves.
By law there are supposed to be two months’ supply of transport fuel held in reserve at any one time. The minister’s failure to confirm whether this legal requirement is being met raises serious concerns that the two-month reserve has not been maintained. In order to settle public worries about shortages, he should disclose the exact state of the country’s fuel reserves without delay.
If it is the case that the two months’ supply is not available, there needs to be an urgent plan to make up the shortfall and maintain it in the future.
If there’s the slightest possibility of fuel shortages, we need to know far in advance so that citizens and businesses can prepare measures to cope.