{"id":877505,"date":"2026-10-04T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=877505"},"modified":"2026-10-02T16:32:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T14:32:58","slug":"warning-over-criminal-tactics-ahead-of-record-diesel-prices-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/877505\/warning-over-criminal-tactics-ahead-of-record-diesel-prices-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning over criminal tactics ahead of record diesel prices in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South African motorists are being warned of a rise in adulterated fuel as the country heads towards record-high diesel prices at the pumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The warning follows the discovery of a suspected illicit fuel operation on a farm outside Potchefstroom in the North West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The operation was uncovered by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and Bidvest Protea Coin, which allegedly used a crude \u201cwash plant\u201d to remove chemical markers from illuminating paraffin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigators believe the process was intended to remove the markers before the paraffin entered the illicit fuel supply chain, where it could be blended with diesel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bidvest Protea Coin chief operating officer Waal de Waal said the operation followed months of intelligence gathering and monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do the intelligence, and once we confirm it, we get law enforcement involved,\u201d De Waal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suspected operation forms part of a wider battle against diesel adulteration, in which paraffin and other cheaper substances are mixed with diesel before the fuel is sold into the formal market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMixing and blending have been around for years, but on a very small scale. But now these days it\u2019s just getting out of hand,\u201d De Waal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, he said the company had identified more than 100 suspected illicit fuel depots across several provinces, with its helicopter surveillance team helping to identify sites in recent months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incentive for criminals is largely driven by the significant tax difference between illuminating paraffin and diesel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paraffin is not subject to the same fuel taxes and levies, creating an opportunity for criminals to increase diesel volumes and boost margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diesel prices are also unregulated, unlike petrol, allowing retailers to set their own prices. This can create further opportunities for operators to use cheaper adulterated fuel to undercut competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An investigation at the end of 2023 found that around 70 service stations across South Africa were selling diesel containing paraffin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next month’s record prices will be hard for criminals to ignore <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In June 2025, a joint operation involving SARS and law enforcement resulted in several arrests and the seizure of about 2 million litres of adulterated fuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some storage tanks were found to contain mixtures consisting of up to 68% paraffin. The operation also identified 23 targets across Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sting resulted in the detention of 953,515 litres of contaminated diesel and the seizure of assets and fuel worth R367.3 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigators also found two fuel \u201cwashrooms\u201d, including a mobile unit fitted to a truck and allegedly used to remove paraffin markers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twelve fuel-transport trucks were identified in connection with suspected false import declarations, while 13 criminal cases were registered with the South African Police Service (SAPS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SARS has also identified under-declaration as part of the illicit trade, with some importers declaring shipments of 40,000 litres or less, while investigations indicate that as much as 60,000 litres were actually imported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to figures from the International Trade Administration Commission cited in the investigation, fuel adulteration costs the fiscus about R3.6 billion a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue has gained attention recently as fuel prices are expected to reach record levels in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Central Energy Fund data shows current under-recoveries of between R2.73 and R3.13 per litre for diesel. Petrol is also facing steep increases, with under-recoveries of R3.12 per litre for 95 octane and R2.93 for 93 octane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said the government could not tackle illicit fuel trading alone and called for greater cooperation across the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGovernment continues to work closely with law enforcement agencies to combat this illicit trade. However, we cannot succeed alone,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndustry cooperation remains essential in identifying offenders and strengthening compliance throughout the value chain.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South African motorists are being warned of a rise in adulterated fuel as the country heads towards record-high diesel prices at the pumps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":856044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"Instagram publishing failed: Instagram returned HTTP 400: Media ID is not available","_sma_x_post_id":"2106610526541267156","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2225863688234030","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[25286,4531,25079,853,19922],"class_list":["post-877505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-bidvest-protea-coin","tag-diesel","tag-mineral-and-petroleum-resources","tag-south-africa","tag-south-african-revenue-service-sars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877505","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=877505"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":877512,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877505\/revisions\/877512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=877505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=877505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}