Newzroom Afrika<\/a>, Avhapfani Tshifularo, the executive director of the South African Petroleum Association, echoed this concern, warning that the scale of the problem is enormous. <\/p>\n\n\n\nHe explained that the blending of tax-free paraffin with diesel has become one of the most common practices in the illicit trade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paraffin is intended for household use and is supposed to be marked with a tracer dye to prevent abuse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Tshifularo said criminals have found a way around this safeguard. \u201cThey set up massive operations to launder out the marker,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once the marker is removed, the paraffin is blended with diesel and sold at prices that seem like a bargain but come at a significant cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tshifularo noted a sharp rise in paraffin sales as evidence of this misuse. \u201cIf you look at what was sold five years back, it was roughly about 600 million litres per annum. But as of December 2024, it\u2019s easily 1.2 billion litres.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This surge, he believes, reflects the scale of paraffin being diverted into the diesel supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The impact is being felt across all sectors. \u201cYou\u2019ll find that there are operators who will sell diesel that contains paraffin to commercial customers, agricultural customers, transport companies, without them knowing, thinking it\u2019s a good bargain,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A government investigation around 18 months ago confirmed the extent of the issue, finding that \u201cabout 70 service stations were selling diesel that contained paraffin across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The damage to consumers can be severe. \u201cIt causes damage to vehicle engines and many other types of equipment that use diesel as a fuel,\u201d Tshifularo warned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The adulterated fuel may be cheaper upfront, but can lead to costly repairs and equipment failures over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tshifularo urged consumers, particularly diesel vehicle owners, to remain vigilant. \u201cWe would like to encourage all diesel car drivers to always be suspicious,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also advised motorists to be cautious of unusually cheap diesel. \u201cDiesel is not regulated at the forecourt,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo you\u2019ll find many competing brands along the same street. But if the discount being offered is way out of sync with anything else on that street, that must give you a hint that something might not be right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He encouraged South Africans to purchase fuel from reputable outlets, especially those affiliated with major oil companies, to reduce the risk of buying contaminated diesel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the scale of the problem, Tshifularo is encouraged by recent steps taken by SARS and law enforcement. \u201cI\u2019m glad the authorities are doing something about it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are more than keen to lend a hand to make sure that this problem is confronted.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Diesel vehicle owners are being warned to remain vigilant when visiting petrol stations in South Africa. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":828610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[5784,19922,22879],"class_list":["post-828345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-south-african-police-service-saps","tag-south-african-revenue-service-sars","tag-the-south-african-petroleum-association"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828345"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":828611,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828345\/revisions\/828611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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