While government is leaning on oil companies to increase their rail imports, a snap survey last week suggested a continuing reliance on road transport. "At the moment, the situation is more or less the same because oil companies are receiving fuel by road, road tankers continue to load from the depots in Republic of South Africa under escort," the EAD statement read.
"We will be able to have a complete picture of the levels of use of road and rail by the end of the month, as new diverted rail deliveries are only just beginning to arrive."
The department said by April, 4.3 percent of the country's annual fuel imports were coming via alternative routes through Mozambique and Namibia. "The goal is to have this amount increased to at least double. Efforts to procure fuel from alternative routes by the oil companies are well underway," the statement said.
Meanwhile, weekend media reports from South Africa painted an increasingly dark picture of the strike by South African drivers. Business Day quoted trade union leaders as saying they intended to intensify their actions to force a concession from employers.
"We are talking to our members in the ports and rail sectors to join in a secondary strike. Import and export at ports will be shut down," South Africa Transport and Allied Workers' Union secretary-general Zenzo Mahlangu was quoted as saying.
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