Fuel stations in South Africa are under pressure despite rising petrol and diesel prices
Image: David Ritchie/Independent Newspapers
Fuel stations in South Africa are under pressure despite rising petrol and diesel prices, with owners warning that tight margins and soaring costs are making it hard to stay afloat.
This comes as the war in the Middle East continues to drive global oil prices higher, pushing local fuel costs to record levels. Last month, motorists were hit with price increases of R3.27 per litre for petrol and R5.27 per litre for diesel.
In an interview with Kaya Kaya FM, South African Petroleum Retailers Association (SAPRA), vice-chairperson Lebo Ramolahloane said the public often assumes that retailers are benefiting from higher fuel prices.
"To be honest, there is the misconception that retailers or service station owners are making money . I'll put it in this context," Ramolahloane said.
"Before the crisis, for us to fill our tanks, it would cost us anything, you know, let's say from about a million Rand for argument's sake, right? And then, but now with how situations are currently, we're looking at about 2 million Rand to 2.5 million Rand to fill up our tanks".
He added that retailers face mounting pressures because margins remain fixed at around R3.15 per litre, even as diesel prices rise above R30 a litre.
"We had to find money in order to fill up our tanks because the margins, remember, our margins stay the same, and it's regulated. So they are the same at about 3 Rand, 15 cents. So you can imagine if now diesel is at over 30 Rand a litre, all that turnover is just excessive risk on our side from the banking aspect of it as well, where, you know, because, you know, with banking it's Rand per hundred".
"So now we are banking more Rands per hundred, but we are still, we still have the same 3 Rand, 15 cents margin intact. So automatically that just increases the pressure on all the overheads that we are currently experiencing as retailers, from the wages, the salaries of our staff".
mthobisi.nozulela@iol.co.za
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