{"id":859821,"date":"2026-05-11T11:32:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T09:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=859821"},"modified":"2026-05-11T14:22:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T12:22:39","slug":"petrol-stations-in-south-africa-are-in-deep-trouble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/859821\/petrol-stations-in-south-africa-are-in-deep-trouble\/","title":{"rendered":"Petrol stations in South Africa are in deep trouble"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Petrol stations in South Africa are under severe financial pressure as fuel prices surge, costs rise, and margins remain tightly regulated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the feedback from the South African Petroleum Retailers Association (SAPRA), which represents many service stations across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking in an interview with Kaya Biz<\/a>, SAPRA national vice-chair Lebo Ramolahloane said many South Africans incorrectly assume that fuel retailers are making huge profits from rising petrol and diesel prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in reality, he stressed that many service stations across South Africa are struggling to remain viable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South African motorists have been hit hard for a second month, with petrol increasing by R3.27 per litre, pushing the inland petrol price to R26.63 per litre, while diesel jumped by R5.27 per litre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The diesel price increase has serious implications for the wider economy because it is vital to operations that deliver food, produce crops, and maintain logistics networks that keep businesses running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Ramolahloane said the increases are also creating major strain for service stations themselves, especially because retailers operate on fixed, regulated margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo be honest, that\u2019s the misconception that everybody makes in terms of retailers making money or service station owners making money,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that before the latest fuel price shocks, filling a station\u2019s tanks cost around R1 million. However, that figure has now climbed to between R2 million and R2.5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPractically overnight, we had to find money in order to fill up our tanks because the margins stay the same and it\u2019s regulated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramolahloane said fuel retailers currently operate on margins of roughly R3.15 per litre, despite diesel prices now exceeding R30 per litre in some cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll that turnover is just excessive risk on our side from the banking aspect of it as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that stations are simultaneously dealing with rising wage costs, salary pressures and Eskom tariff hikes, which are further squeezing already thin profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Service stations are scraping by<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
SAPRA national vice-chair Lebo Ramolahloane<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Ramolahloane said petrol station margins are very tight, typically generating net profits of only 1% to 5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAPRA has argued that the regulated fuel retail model is outdated and no longer reflects South Africa\u2019s current operating environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe formula itself is actually outdated, and it needs to be updated to the current market and to the current market environment,\u201d Ramolahloane said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He confirmed that discussions with the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources are underway, although no final solutions have yet been agreed on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond fuel sales, Ramolahloane said petrol stations are increasingly relying on convenience stores, quick-service restaurants and other services to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe convenience store plays a vital role in our operations because that\u2019s obviously where the bigger margins are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that many forecourts are diversifying further by adding quick-service restaurants and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really trying our best in order to keep up to date and make sure that we keep the lights on and our staff paid,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramolahloane also warned that higher fuel prices are reducing the amount of fuel motorists buy, which directly hurts station volumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, consumers are putting in fixed rand amounts rather than filling their tanks completely, causing fuel volumes sold to decline even as turnover rises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He warned that some stations may eventually be forced to introduce cost-cutting measures such as reduced working hours if conditions worsen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe definitely do not want to let this impact our petrol attendants negatively because they themselves are also experiencing the pressures that every single one of us is experiencing in the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead, Ramolahloane said SAPRA members are closely monitoring Brent crude oil prices and developments in the Middle East in the hope that fuel prices stabilise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge crisis for us all, and we really hope that everything works out in the Middle East,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many service stations across South Africa are struggling to remain viable amid record fuel price hikes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":855476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[853,25364],"class_list":["post-859821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-south-africa","tag-south-african-petroleum-retailers-association-sapra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859821","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=859821"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":860110,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859821\/revisions\/860110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}