Africa-Press – South-Africa. AgriSA and the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) are urging the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Energy to urgently consider a temporary adjustment to the fuel pricing mechanism to stabilise rural supply.
This call comes ahead of an expected fuel price surge this week, driven by the Middle East conflict that has pushed crude oil above $100 a barrel.
The organisations warn of emerging supply constraints in rural areas, with a survey of farmers and fuel retailers pointing to growing pressure at farms.
This is despite public statements indicating that the national fuel supply remains stable.
A joint study by Agrisa and Agbiz shows constrained fuel supply across several regions, with growing rationing as retailers limit volumes amid uncertainty over replenishment.
The groups warn that this is starting to disrupt farming and agribusiness operations at a critical point in the production cycle.
They said that the current situation is driven by a mix of global oil volatility, supply chain challenges, market behaviour, and stress that clear pricing signals are now crucial.
The CEO of Agbiz, Theo Boshoff, said, “So as a result, to stabilise supply, we’ve asked government if we can maybe review the fuel levy, to ask for temporary relief as well as also more regular, not the monthly price adjustments. Because the thinking is that, that will essentially remove any incentive to stockpile or panic buy if the price is only going to go up at a later stage.”
Meanwhile, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has written to the national government calling for urgent intervention to prevent alleged fuel hoarding, warning it threatens key sectors like agriculture, which accounts for more than half of the country’s exports.
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