The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday urged Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe to declare South Africa's Fuel Reserves amid worries about potential fuel shortages, rationing and increasing energy prices triggered by the major conflicts in the Middle East.

“In order to settle public worries about shortages, he should disclose the exact state of the country's fuel reserves without delay,” said DA spokesperson on Mineral and Petroleum Resources James Lorimer.

The party expressed concern at Mantashe’s failure to confirm whether the legal requirement of supplying transport fuel was being met by government, arguing that this raised serious concerns that the two-month reserve had not been maintained.

Lorimer explained that by law there were supposed to be two months' supply of transport fuel held in reserve at any time.

On Monday Mantashe assured during the Southern Africa Oil and Gas Conference in Cape Town that there was no need to panic about potential shortages of fuel caused by the war in the Persian Gulf.

But Lorimer said Mantashe avoided revealing the state of South Africa's fuel reserves.

“If it is the case that the two months' supply is not available, there needs to be an urgent plan to make up the shortfall and maintain it in the future.

“If there's the slightest possibility of fuel shortages, we need to know far in advance so that citizens and businesses can prepare measures to cope,” he explained.