Fuel shortages to continue till March

Fuel shortages have gripped the country since the festive season because of maintenance shutdowns at some South African refineries and reduced operational capacity of the Durban-Gauteng fuel pipeline.

To plug the gap, government released 11 million litres from the strategic stocks and squeezed further supplies from South Africa and modest inflows from Mozambique. Last week, the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources announced that the fuel supply situation was nearing normal across the country but advised continued conservation.