Botswana fuel under security escort

MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer | Monday October 8, 2012 00:00

 

In an emailed response to questions, the department said local oil companies had stock that can last seven days without new supplies, indicating short-term stability.

On Friday, South African media reports indicated that truck drivers who have been on strike since last week, were attempting to rope in their colleagues from ports and railways.

Such action would likely cripple supplies to Botswana, which sources nearly all of its one billion litres per annum of fuel from South Africa. According to the department, 60 percent of supplies come via road, with the balance by rail.

While government is leaning on oil companies to increase their rail imports, a snap survey last week suggested a continuing reliance on road transport. 'At the moment, the situation is more or less the same because oil companies are receiving fuel by road, road tankers continue to load from the depots in Republic of South Africa under escort,' the EAD statement read.

'We will be able to have a complete picture of the levels of use of road and rail by the end of the month, as new diverted rail deliveries are only just beginning to arrive.'

The department said by April, 4.3 percent of the country's annual fuel imports were coming via alternative routes through Mozambique and Namibia. 'The goal is to have this amount increased to at least double. Efforts to procure fuel from alternative routes by the oil companies are well underway,' the statement said.

Meanwhile, weekend media reports from South Africa painted an increasingly dark picture of the strike by South African drivers. Business Day quoted trade union leaders as saying they intended to intensify their actions to force a concession from employers.

'We are talking to our members in the ports and rail sectors to join in a secondary strike. Import and export at ports will be shut down,' South Africa Transport and Allied Workers' Union secretary-general Zenzo Mahlangu was quoted as saying.

Should the union succeed, the action would invalidate government's strategy to sidestep a fuel supply crisis by increasing rail imports. The Energy Affairs Department says it is closely monitoring the situation and will act accordingly to ensure adequate supplies of fuel in the country.