South Africa sets 60-day deadline for its petrol stations

The Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) has given South Africa’s petrol stations and other petroleum licensees 60 days to comply with its new regulations or face severe penalties.

Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe gazetted new Compliance Regulations under the Petroleum Products Act of 1977, requiring all active licensees to bring operations up to date.

The mandate requires all active licensees to verify their operating details, clear any unpaid annual fees, and submit updated contact information within a strict sixty-day window.

The regulations aim to improve regulatory compliance, clean up the licensing database integrity, identify inactive or non-compliant license holders, and collect outstanding licence fees.

According to the Gazette, all existing licensees and applicants must comply with the following actions by late December 2026:

• Update and verify details– Licensees must verify and update their licensing details at the correct regional office listed on their licence certificate.
• Conditional grant – Applicants with “granted” status must satisfy all conditional granting requirements.
• Mandatory submissions:
  1. Ownership and contact data – Updated ownership, corporate structure, and operational contact details.
  2. Corporate changes – Statutory documentation supporting any corporate structural or business status changes.
  3. Operational declaration – A formal declaration confirming that licensed activities remain active, operational going concerns.
  4. Fee settlement – Full settlement of all outstanding annual licence fees with proof of payment.
  5. Rehabilitation security – Proof of financial security for environmental rehabilitation.

The information and documentation must be submitted to the relevant Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) regional offices, designated regional email addresses and official contact persons.

Those licensees who fail to comply within the department’s strict 60-day window could face severe penalties.

According to the Minister, non-compliance will lead to direct enforcement action, including the cancellation of licences.

Additionally, contravention constitutes a criminal offence under section 12 of the Petroleum Products Act.

South Africa exerting more control at petrol stations

Earlier this year, the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) published the Draft Policy for Rest and Service Facilities along National Roads, which raised concerns over increased control over private businesses.

The business group Sakeliga warned that the policy would impose new broad black economic empowerment (BEE) requirements on petrol stations and other roadside businesses.

It aims to regulate developments such as petrol stations, truck stops, restaurants, convenience stores, and future infrastructure linked to electric vehicles and alternative fuels.

Sakeliga argued that this is simply an attempt to use SANRAL’s authority over South Africa’s national roads to control businesses operating on private land.

It objected to the draft policy, noting that it would give SANRAL powers to dictate who can operate a business along a national road, set transformation credential requirements, impose levies, and mandate how businesses must be structured.

According to Sakeliga, the roads agency is trying to use SANRAL Act provisions intended to regulate access to national roads to introduce much broader commercial and socio-economic regulations.

“The road agency’s authority, as defined by the SANRAL Act, is restricted to the planning, financing, construction, operation, management, and maintenance of national roads,” Sakeliga said.

“SANRAL is not an economic regulator, a licensing authority for private businesses, or empowered to impose transformation requirements on private landowners.”

The business group highlighted that the draft policy would require roadside businesses to comply with SANRAL’s own Transformation Policy.

It argued that the policy was originally meant for companies contracted by SANRAL for road construction and maintenance.

“The Draft Policy now requires private businesses on private land to comply with the same framework, even though they are not contracting with SANRAL, are not spending public money, and are not supplying any product or service to SANRAL,” it said.