Cape Town — The Automobile Association (AA) has reportedly raised concerns over petrol stations allegedly selling contaminated fuel to customers.
This is after government found contaminated diesel at 70 stations, reports said.
According to AA Spokesperson Layton Beard, the impact it has had on vehicles is big and that consumers can only pick up on it in the long run. He added that some petrol stations may not be aware that they are receiving contaminated fuel from their suppliers, SABC News reported.
“How widespread the problem is, I think we simply don’t know. The big problem of course for consumers is that there is no way for them to actually know if the diesel they are buying is contaminated or not, unless you take a sample of your fuel and you actually have it tested at a greater expense, you will have that result,” Beard said.
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“But for consumers, the average consumer relies on and trusts filling stations to provide clean fuel and they do that knowing that they have done it in the past and everything is going to be okay,” he added.
The Department of Mineral Resources spokesperson, Robert Maake, said the mixing of diesel and paraffin has become a bigger problem because the numbers are increasing.
“During April and December last year, that’s when we found out that there were about 70 incidents of service stations that found diesel mixed with paraffin.”
He said the incidents occurred at petrol stations in every province in the country, with all stations still in operation. He said the department cannot name and shame the service stations that are selling the contaminated fuel due to the POPI Act, but said consumers should pay attention to the price of fuel and if they are paying at a discounted price, then they should not fill up.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
