The Automobile Association (AA) has called on South Africans to limit all non-essential travel as road transport comes under pressure from unrest and the spectre of fuel shortages.
The Association also warns that unaudited mid-month fuel price data from the Central Energy Fund reflected a risk of substantial fuel price hikes at month-end.
"Fuel prices were already trending higher before the widespread looting and unrest of the past few days. But now, the daily Rand/US dollar exchange rate has spiked from R14.35 to nearly R14.80 since 12 June.
South Africa imports a lot of fuel, which will inevitably cost more in Rand terms.
The mid-month data indicates that petrol is set for an increase of 87 cents a litre, diesel 58 cents and illuminating paraffin 56 cents, and the AA says it expects little respite before month-end.
In a related development, South African Petroleum Refiners (SAPREF), which runs a massive refinery complex in Durban supplying 35% of South Africa's refined fuel, has declared force majeure.
The AA warns that if an operational refinery were to be overrun by criminals, surrounding areas would be at great risk.
"Past disasters involving refineries have polluted wide areas and claimed hundreds of lives, so SAPREF's caution is justified.
The Association advises motorists to avoid unnecessary journeys and to buy no more fuel than necessary, to preserve current stocks for essential and emergency services.
"We also advise citizens to work remotely where possible, and our plea to business is to accommodate the difficulties their staff may face if mass transit is affected by fuel shortages."
