Border chaos over diesel in Angola

Strict new measures imposed by the Angolan authorities that prohibit truckers from carrying additional tanks of diesel out of the country are causing border chaos. The regulation is a major blow to hauliers who have taken advantage of the cheaper fuel price to provide a competitive service to their customers. The price of diesel per litre in Angola is R4 compared to R13 in South Africa and R12 in Namibia. According to FTW sources, there was no prior notification and trucks have been impounded and drivers arrested. “There’s still nothing in writing as to what the rules and regulations are, how they’re to be enforced and what the penalties are,” Windhoekbased Drury Parrell of Tutungeni Import and Export, told FTW last week. Trucks are being stopped and fuel removed – according to one source 1 200 litres of fuel was removed from one truck. Normally we fill up when we cross the border, do our work in Angola and top up our tanks when we come out,” Parrell told FTW. “We believe the push may have come from the Namibian government which was losing money in taxes as Namibian citizens travelled across the border to fill up with cheaper fuel.” Since being reported in the local newspapers it’s no secret that a number of private individuals have been buying the fuel cheaply in Angola to sell across the border at a profit. “That’s been going on for some time,” said Parrell, “and you won’t stop it because the border has more points going across it than anything else. It’s the legitimate operators who will be stopped at the border post.” “Our trucks, along with other hauliers’ vehicles, used to fill up in Santa Clara – and depending on the number of extra tanks – this would give us enough diesel to drive to Cape Town or Johannesburg and back to Namibia without filling up in South Africa or Namibia,” another trucking source told FTW. “Now we can only drive to Cape Town or Johannesburg and have to fill up there. This will raise our costs by at least R15 000 a trip,” he told FTW. Karel-Jan Nothnagel of Afri-Cross told FTW the regulation had been in the offing for two years but had not been strictly implemented until now. Eben Pieters of Orion Logistics says the move will have major impact on shippers and hauliers on the route. He estimates that the extra fuel cost will amount to R30-R40 000 a month. “We could now see shippers switching to the sea route which is even more of a problem because of the congestion at the Port of Luanda,” he said. And with several contracts already signed, Pieters believes he will need to renegotiate. “We’re now looking at three times the fuel costs,” said Parrell. “We haven’t calculated the additional cost but it will be substantial. “At this stage what we need is clarity. The rules seem to change from day to day. One day you can carry one tank, the next day the two original tanks that came with the truck can be full, and now it’s back to one tank. It’s hectic enough out there without this additional chaos.” And ultimately, he says, the additional costs will be passed on to the consumer – a sentiment shared by Henk Hopley of Johannesburg-based Hopley Exports which specialises in the movement of perishable products from South Africa to Angola. “Over the past weekend we experienced a serious delay of a day and a half as a result of hold-ups at the border directly caused by the new diesel restriction. While we have refrigeration, the quicker you get the fruit to the end consumer, the fresher it is.” And ultimately it’s the consumer who will be compromised, says Hopley. “Anything that delays a truck and anything that increases the cost of the truck is directly ref lected in the price the consumer pays. Whatever the amount of the increase, this will be passed on to the man in the street.”