GEORGE NEWS - The four filling stations in the Western Cape found by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to have been selling diesel mixed with paraffin are not located in the Garden Route and Klein-Karoo.
This was confirmed by Mathapelo Mosikidi of the Petroleum Legal Compliance and Enforcement section of the DMRE.
News24 reported earlier this week that the DMRE had found diesel samples at 70 filling stations that had been diluted with illuminating paraffin and sold to unsuspecting motorists. Four of these are in the Western Cape.
The other samples were in Limpopo (15 stations), North West (13), KwaZulu-Natal (13), Mpumalanga (9), Northern Cape (6), Gauteng (5), Free State (4) and Eastern Cape (1).
DMRE Deputy Director General Tseliso Maqubela said in an interview with eNCA that the non-compliant samples were discovered during the department's annual survey in which 1 000 samples are taken throughout the country.
Notices have been issued to the non-compliant stations and they were being referred for law enforcement.
The non-compliant samples are as a rule not found at dealers that are linked to major oil companies, but they obtain their fuel from non-refining wholesalers that are unfamiliar brands.
Maqubela advised motorists to fill up at a service station linked with a reputable brand.
There are more than 5 000 service stations in the country and it is believed there could be even more offenders, particularly among filling stations that do not buy fuel from the major oil companies.
Adulterated diesel causes engine damage and is also a form of tax evasion. "If you mix diesel with paraffin, effectively you are trying to evade paying the road accident levy and fuel levy, because paraffin does not attract those."
The South African Revenue Service is informed when such samples are found to recoup the monies due to the state which these retailers are benefitting from, said Maqubela.
A local filling station linked with a major oil company said they work according to strict guidelines and their fuel is checked daily for contaminants.
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