{"id":882357,"date":"2026-11-02T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=882357"},"modified":"2026-11-02T14:43:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T12:43:00","slug":"petrol-stations-in-deep-trouble-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/882357\/petrol-stations-in-deep-trouble-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Petrol stations in deep trouble in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Petrol stations in South Africa are in trouble as rising fuel prices force motorists to cut back on fuel purchases, while operating costs continue to climb and jobs come under threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the feedback from Henry van der Merwe, chairman of the South African Petroleum Retailers Association (SAPRA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the government’s R10 billion fuel tax relief package would provide some assistance to motorists but would do little to address the financial challenges facing fuel retailers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that filling stations do not benefit financially when petrol prices increase because their regulated retail margins remain unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we sell fuel at R25 a litre, we get R2, and if we sell it at R40 a litre, we get R2 because it\u2019s a margin,\u201d Van der Merwe said in an interview with CapeTalk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is that higher prices lead motorists to buy fewer litres, reducing the volume of fuel sold by filling stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo when the high fuel price hits us, the litres go down, and that\u2019s where the problem comes in. So the fuel retailers are really suffering,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van der Merwe added that declining sales have forced some rural filling stations to close at night to reduce operating expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJobs are on the line. There\u2019s no real relief for fuel retailers because, as you know, we\u2019re only getting a margin. Our margin stays exactly the same,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also warned that fuel theft is becoming a bigger problem as prices rise, with more motorists driving away without paying. \u201cThe more expensive the petrol, the more drive-offs they have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data from Discovery Insure shows how significantly rising fuel costs are changing motorists’ purchasing habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fuel purchases among its clients fell by 33% in volume in October after inland 95-octane petrol climbed above R30 per litre for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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South Africans have also cut out long-distance trips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An analysis of transactions and telematics data from more than 200,000 clients found that motorists are increasingly buying smaller quantities of fuel rather than filling their tanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average amount purchased per transaction has declined from approximately 36 litres to 31 litres during months with significant fuel price increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Purchases of less than 20 litres now account for around 36% of transactions in 2026, compared with 25% in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During periods of substantial fuel price movements, smaller purchases account for nearly 40% of transactions between the 25th and month-end, compared with approximately 20% normally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monthly fuel spending has also increased sharply, rising from an average of R1,750 at the beginning of 2025 to between R2,500 and R2,700 by mid-2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery Insure chief executive Robert Attwell said motorists were becoming increasingly deliberate about how they purchased fuel as household budgets came under pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that while motorists can reduce discretionary spending, commuting, school runs, and other everyday travel remain difficult to avoid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery’s data also showed that long-distance trips declined by 30% during the winter months, while everyday commuting remained relatively stable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the October fuel price increase, the number of trips fell by 6% and kilometres travelled declined by 7%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pressure on motorists comes as fuel prices remain exposed to international oil markets and currency movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Central Energy Fund data at the end of October showed under-recoveries of R1.01 per litre for 93-octane petrol and R1.17 per litre for 95-octane petrol. Diesel under-recoveries stood at R1.32 and R1.42 per litre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Treasury’s November relief package, reducing fuel taxes by R1.50 per litre for petrol and R3 for diesel, is expected to offset these pressures and deliver lower pump prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Van der Merwe warned that international oil prices remain unpredictable, with global reserves under pressure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Petrol stations in South Africa are in trouble as rising fuel prices force motorists to cut back on fuel purchases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":855476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2117241577017942516","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2258279034992495","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18069073619787099","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[13149,853,25364],"class_list":["post-882357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-discovery-insure","tag-south-africa","tag-south-african-petroleum-retailers-association-sapra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882357","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=882357"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":882426,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882357\/revisions\/882426"}],"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=882357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}