Pretoria - There is a need to transform the liquid fuel industry to protect the poor from unscrupulous people, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said on Thursday.
"The report I received regarding the implementation of the liquid fuel charter is not impressive, what is critical is to note that lack of transformation in the sector and failure to create inclusive economy is untenable," he said.
The minister said poor people in the rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal were forced to buy petroleum products at a higher price, and in the Transkei area of the Eastern Cape people were mixing paraffin with water to increase volume.
"This dangerous, illegal deed might come to an end if we can consider bringing liquid fuel services closer to communities in deep rural areas," he said.
He said transformation on the employment sector needed to focus more on women.
"We cannot after 15 years into freedom and democracy still not find acceptable numbers of women in the decision making structures of major corporations."
The liquid fuel charter was created in 2000 as an instrument to bridge the economic divide within the liquid fuel industry. - Sapa