| (1) | The Minister must prescribe a system for the allocation of site and their corresponding retail licences by which the Controller of Petroleum Products shall be bound: Provided that the Controller of Petroleum Products shall only be bound by the provisions of such a system for the period set out in that regulation or any amendment thereto or any substitution thereof which period may not exceed 10 years from the date of commencement of that regulation. |
[Section 2E(1) substituted by section 4(a) of Act No. 2 of 2005]
| (2) | The Minister shall prior to promulgating a system contemplated in subsection (1) invite public comment thereon by publishing it in the Gazette and duly considering such comments. |
| (3) | A system contemplated in subsection (1)— |
| (a) | must intend to transform the retail sector into one that has the optimum number of efficient sites; |
| (b) | must intend to achieve an equilibrium amongst all participants in the petroleum products industry within the constraints of this Act; |
| (d) | must promote efficient investment in the retail sector and the productive use of retail facilities and may in this regard— |
| (i) | limit the total number of site and corresponding retail licences in any period; |
| (ii) | link the total number of site and corresponding retail licences in any period, to the total mass or volume of prescribed petroleum products sold by licensed retailers; and |
| (iii) | use any other appropriate means; |
[Section 2E(3)(d) substituted by section 4(b) of Act No. 2 of 2005]
| (e) | must allow licensed wholesalers to trade with each other any contractual rights and obligations they may have, to supply licensed retailers with prescribed petroleum products; |
| (f) | [Section 2E(3)(f) deleted by section 4(c) of Act No. 2 of 2005] |
| (g) | may link the issuing of a new site licence and the corresponding retail licence to the termination or transfer of ownership of one or more existing site licences and the corresponding retail licences; |
| (h) | may link the issuing of a new retail licence to the transfer from a licensed wholesaler of contractual rights enjoyed by that wholesaler in respect of one or more licensed retailers, to another licensed wholesaler. |
| (4) | The Minister shall from time to time review the efficacy of the system contemplated in subsection (1) against the objectives of this Act and may amend the system in an appropriate manner and the provisions of subsection (2) shall mutatis mutandis apply. |
| (5) | Nothing contained in subsection (1), (2) or (3) absolves any person from the obligation to apply for and hold a licence in terms of this Act. |
[Section 2E inserted by section 3 of Act No. 58 of 2003]
