- AA wants N-methylaniline added to petrol specification.
- Additive neither banned nor tested in South Africa.
- Nako Energy seeks PetroSA provisional liquidation.
- PetroSA owes SARS R4 billion, amaBhungane reports.
- Fleets urged to demand certificates of analysis.
The Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) has called on the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources to add N-methylaniline to the country’s petrol specification and to begin testing for it. The additive is currently neither banned nor tested for in South Africa, and motorists on the Garden Route have already paid to repair paint damage linked to petrol bought at ordinary forecourts.
The call follows an amaBhungane investigation, published on 17 September 2026, into dealings between state-owned PetroSA 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. Moneyweb reported on 18 September 2026 that PetroSA will oppose the application. The AA takes no position on the merits of the dispute.
Fuel additive damage on the Garden Route
According to amaBhungane, an internal PetroSA investigation found that petrol had “reacted to car paint”, and affected vehicles were repainted by panel beaters in Mossel Bay. Sasol and Astron Energy reportedly 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.
“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. The association wants a published test method, a date for the first test, quarterly publication of national testing results and a clear route to redress for motorists whose vehicles were damaged.
PetroSA debt and fuel storage concerns
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. Plane Tree Capital, which now holds Nako’s claim, has demanded R620 519 979 plus interest. The AA wants a full, audited schedule of PetroSA’s liabilities tabled before Parliament votes on the South African National Petroleum Company Bill.
The AA cautions against describing the matter as the end of domestic refining, noting that the Mossel Bay gas-to-liquids plant stopped producing in 2020. It says the live exposure is storage capacity, import terminals and custody of national fuel stock, and asks for monthly publication of national days of cover for petrol and diesel.
What the AA asks of fleet operators
The AA is 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. “Any fleet buying fuel in bulk in this country should insist on a certificate of analysis tomorrow morning. It costs almost nothing,” Ramagwede says. Department officials were scheduled to appear before the Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources on 22 September 2026.
Supplied by QuickPic (AA)
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