JOHANNESBURG - The Fuels Industry Association has warned motorists against taking on more fuel than they need at the pumps.
The organisation said changes in consumer behaviour can negatively impact fuel stability.
South Africans fear fuel shortages as the Middle East Conflict drags on. Avhapfani Tshifularo of the Fuel Industry Association of South Africa said the crisis should be tackled as a collective.
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"We need to tackle this as a collective. We've got a global crisis, which is impacting the way we supply fuel in the country. So it means what is important is that we need to stick to our own normal purchasing patterns. We don't need to deviate from that, because otherwise we'll create unnecessary imbalance in the supply chain," Tshifularo cautioned.
"If all of us start to behave in an irrational way, it's going to create problems because the supply chain is designed to service the market in the normal way. The normal way, it means you only visit the gas station when your petrol gauge is empty," he added.
Meanwhile, Dirco Minister Ronald Lamola has urged South Africans to maximise alternative fuel use so the country does not run out of petroleum resources.
"We need to use our domestic capabilities, coal to fuel capability, gas to fuel capabilities, and the biofuel capabilities that the country has," Lamola said.
"South Africa must rise and build its own domestic capability so that we are self-sufficient during this difficult time. This moment of crisis calls for all of us to work together. We've done it during Covid-19. We've done it during the July unrest. We've done it during the natural disasters in KZN and in the Eastern Cape. We can again do it now today as South Africa."