The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has confirmed that 70 service stations are selling watered-down diesel to customers. Image: Pixabay.
Diluted diesel: Call for review of products sold at all service stations
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy revealed that 70 service stations in South Africa are selling diluted diesel.
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has confirmed that 70 service stations are selling watered-down diesel to customers. Image: Pixabay.
Following shocking revelations that 70 service stations are selling diluted diesel, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to institute a nationwide review of petroleum products sold at all service stations in the country.
SA SERVICE STATIONS SELLING DILUTED DIESEL
Department of Mineral Resources and Energy spokesperson Makhosonke Buthelezi clarified that it was not necessarily an investigation, but a routine annual exercise by the department where they randomly visit fuel retailers and wholesalers to sample and test diesel.
“We test at least 1 500 of retailers from the more than 5 000 we have in the country. So, in the tests conducted between April and December 2023, 70 had adulterated diesel,” he said.
The routine exercise found gas stations with contaminated diesel in:
- Mpumalanga 9;
- Limpopo 15;
- North West 13;
- Kwazulu-Natal 13;
- Gauteng 5;
- Western Cape 4;
- Free State 4;
- Eastern Cape 1; and
- Northern Cape 6
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DA CALLS FOR REVIEW OF ALL PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
The DA said it would be highly irresponsible for DMRE to assume that the 3 600 service stations that did not form part of its sampling and testing of petroleum products survey fully comply with regulations on petroleum specifications and standards.
The party said since this was confirmed to be a countrywide scandal, and using the findings of the current sampling survey as a baseline, it’s not a stretch to assume that there are potentially as many as 322 service stations that could also be implicated.
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“While the DA has already called for the release of the names of the 70 service stations implicated in the diesel/paraffin dilution scandal, it is imperative that the net is cast wider to identify any potential holdouts the current DMRE survey may have missed.
“Only a nationwide review of all service stations will rebuild trust and assure the motoring public of the quality of petroleum products,” DA Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Kevin Mileham said.
Furthermore, Milenham said the argument by DMRE that it can’t release the names of the implicated service stations is administratively weak and exposes a flawed interpretation of the POPI Act.
“These businesses lost their right to privacy when they deliberately tainted their diesel products, creating a public hazard that potentially placed the lives of motorists at severe risk. The public must know these bad apples to protect themselves and their vehicles. Additionally, POPI only applies to personal information, and this legislation would not protect businesses that have fraudulently sold diluted petroleum products,” he added.
