Petrol shutdown: Industry bosses warn don’t fall for the fake voice note

As we approach the weekend, South Africans have been sharing a Whatsapp voice note of a woman claiming that there will be a national petrol station shut down on Friday. Like so many things frantically shared on Whatsapp, the information in the voice note is fake news.

Petrol shutdown: Stop sharing fake news voice notes

While petrol prices have been on the rise during the last few months, members of the petrol industry have confirmed that there will not be a shutdown of all petrol station on Friday 27 July.

The CapeTimes received confirmation from both Engen and BP South Africa.

Engen’s Gavin Smith described the voice note as “simply not true” and explained that he has been receiving numerous calls from concerned customers.

BP South Africa’s Nelisiwe Masina also told the publication that there was “no truth” to the claims. Multiple petrol station managers backed up the two petrol giants’ stance.

JP Smith, City of Cape Town Mayco member for safety, security and social services, explained that he had been receiving messages from the public on a daily basis about the supposed shutdown.

“I’ve actually started to become cynical about the validity of such messages… they’re often inaccurate, and seem to be nothing more than a calculated destabilisation campaign to drive up anxiety and fear,” Smith said. “I don’t want to add weight to a message such as this which has an anonymous origin, but the majority of the times these voice notes do nothing more than promote fear mongering.”

In terms of fighting the rising petrol costs, the DA and the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) announced this week that they will be mobilising members of the public for a large protest march.

Read: “Reduce the fuel levy by R1” – DA and OUTA propose new plan to combat costs

The march will take place outside the office of National Treasury on the morning of Tuesday 31 July.