The Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) has called on the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources to add N-methylaniline to the country’s petrol specification and to begin testing for it. This additive is currently neither banned nor tested for in South Africa. The call follows an investigation into dealings between state-owned PetroSA and junior fuel trader Nako Energy.
An internal PetroSA investigation found that petrol had “reacted to car paint”, and affected vehicles were repainted by panel beaters in Mossel Bay. Sasol and Astron Energy reportedly found more than six percent of N-methylaniline in the product, against a recommended level of around 1.2 percent cited by the Fuels Industry Association. The additive is banned as a fuel additive in Europe, China and Russia.
The AA wants a published test method, a date for the first test, quarterly publication of national testing results and a clear route to redress for motorists whose vehicles were damaged. According to Bobby Ramagwede, chief executive officer of the AA, “A specification that does not test for a substance is not a specification. It is a document.”
Nako Energy has applied to the Western Cape Division of the High Court for an order placing PetroSA under provisional liquidation. PetroSA owes SARS R4 billion and more than R700 million to the fuel trader Addax, and closed the 2023 financial year with R3.5 billion in unpaid trade payables. Plane Tree Capital, which now holds Nako’s claim, has demanded R620 519 979 plus interest.
The AA cautions against describing the matter as the end of domestic refining, noting that the Mossel Bay gas-to-liquids plant stopped producing in 2020. It says the live exposure is storage capacity, import terminals and custody of national fuel stock. The AA asks for monthly publication of national days of cover for petrol and diesel.
The AA is asking fleet operators, logistics companies and independent retailers to require a certificate of analysis with every bulk fuel delivery and to keep a retention sample of each load. Ramagwede says, “Any fleet buying fuel in bulk in this country should insist on a certificate of analysis tomorrow morning. It costs almost nothing.”
Department officials were scheduled to appear before the Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources. The AA wants a full, audited schedule of PetroSA’s liabilities tabled before Parliament votes on the South African National Petroleum Company Bill.
Key points
- The Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) wants N-methylaniline added to petrol specification and tested.
- PetroSA faces a liquidation bid from Nako Energy.
- PetroSA owes SARS R4 billion and has R3.5 billion in unpaid trade payables.
