AA calls for fuel quality testing reform as PetroSA faces liquidation

The call follows an amaBhungane investigation, published on 17 September 2026, into dealings between PetroSA, which is owned by the state, and junior fuel trader Nako Energy. The publication reports that Nako applied to the Western Cape Division of the High Court for an order placing PetroSA under provisional liquidation. PetroSA confirmed that it will oppose the application (Moneyweb, 18 September 2026).

The AA takes no position on the merits of the dispute. Its concern is the three consequences that reach motorists, fleet operators and taxpayers: how fuel quality is regulated, how public liabilities are transferred, and who holds the country's fuel stock.

The publication reports that an internal PetroSA investigation found that petrol had "reacted to car paint", and that affected vehicles were repainted by panel beaters in Mossel Bay. It also reports that Sasol and Astron Energy 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. In South Africa it is neither banned nor tested for.

"A specification that does not test for a substance is not a specification. It is a document," says Bobby Ramagwede, chief executive officer of the AA. "Motorists on the Garden Route bought petrol at ordinary forecourts, watched the paint come off their cars, and paid the panel beater for the repairs themselves."

AmaBhungane reports that PetroSA owes SARS R4 billion and more than R700 million to the fuel trader Addax, and that it closed the 2023 financial year with R3.5 billion in unpaid trade payables. It further reports that Plane Tree Capital, which now holds Nako's claim, has demanded R620 519 979 plus interest.

"Before a single liability is transferred, we also call for a full audited schedule of what the public is absorbing to be tabled," Bobby says.

The AA cautions against describing the matter as the end of domestic refining. The Mossel Bay gas to liquids plant stopped producing as far back as 2020.

"Liquidation would not close a working refinery. It would formalise a closure that happened six years ago," Bobby says.

The AA is asking for a published test method and a date for the first test, a national testing regime with quarterly results, an audited schedule of PetroSA's liabilities before Parliament votes on the South African National Petroleum Company Bill, a clear route to redress for affected motorists, and monthly publication of national days of cover for petrol and diesel. It is also 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.

• The AA's comment is confined to regulation, disclosure and security of supply. The AA makes no allegation of wrongdoing against any party to the litigation and takes no position on the merits of the application before the Western Cape Division of the High Court. Factual details on the PetroSA and Nako Energy transactions from the amaBhungane investigation published on 17 September 2026 and credit it accordingly.