Cabinet approves publication of petroleum stocks policy

Cabinet has approved the publication of the draft Strategic Petroleum Stocks Policy for public comment, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said on Friday.

Briefing reporters in Pretoria, the Minister said the policy aims to strengthen South Africa’s energy security and minimise the economic impact of supply shocks.

“It follows a comprehensive study commissioned by government in 2024 on the country’s strategic petroleum stocks, which identified areas requiring attention, including the need to strengthen stockholding arrangements and increase domestic refining capacity,” she said.

She added that the policy proposes a mixed stockholding model under which the South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC) will maintain strategic reserves equivalent to 60 days of net imports for both crude oil and refined petroleum products, with a phased increase to 90 days over the long term.

“The policy will contribute to safeguarding national energy security, improving resilience against global supply shocks and supporting sustainable economic growth,” she said.

Meanwhile, Cabinet also approved the Integrated Social Facilitation Framework  (ISFF) as a binding national policy instrument to standardise and institutionalise community engagement in infrastructure delivery across all spheres of government, state-owned entities and infrastructure development stakeholders.
The framework is intended to address community protests, project disruptions, vandalism, delays and security risks by promoting structured community participation throughout the infrastructure project lifecycle, thereby strengthening public trust, social cohesion and protection of infrastructure investments.

Cabinet said the ISFF introduces a professionalised and coordinated approach to social facilitation, including accreditation of social facilitators, clearer governance arrangements, stronger monitoring and evaluation, and a risk-based approach to managing community-related risks.

In addition, Cabinet approved the release of the Science, Technology and Innovation Funding Report for public comment.

“The report emphasises the need for South Africa to avoid over-reliance on foreign funding and to build local funding capacity to mitigate threats posed to the country’s research programmes in order to safeguard South Africa’s scientific sovereignty,” it said. – SAnews.gov.za