Should the road fright industry's wage strike continue for more than a week, the country may be facing a national fuel crisis, the SA Fuel Retailers Association (FRA) said on Saturday.

"If we hadn't had this [long weekend] relief, we may already have been in a crisis," said FRA chief executive officer Reggie Sibiya.

Sibiya said the fuel industry, which was under pressure by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) strike, was able to use drivers from the commercial side of the industry to service petrol stations.

"This is only a short term relief "

"We believe as the RFA that this is only a short term relief as the commercial industry will be back in full operation on Tuesday," he said.

Sibiya warned that if the strike continued beyond Tuesday, a more negative impact on fuel retailers' sales would most likely be seen.

However, he said motorists returning from holiday destinations over the weekend need not worry about fuel shortages as oil companies would prioritise deliveries to the national routes.

"When they arrive back in Gauteng, they will actually come back to a better situation as when they left," he said.

But as the week progressed the fuel situation may worsen again.

Sibiya was especially concerned about smaller retailers, especially in the townships as they would be the main victims in the firing line.

"Their overheads remain the same but they lose their income, so it is likely to impact the smaller retailers in the long run," he said.

At the moment the hardest hit areas were fuel stations in Atteridgeville, Soshanguve, KwaMashu Umlazi, Soweto and Alexandra.

Sibiya said this was because drivers were intimidated in these areas and oil companies diverted fuel to retailers on major road networks.

Sibiya said it would take at least two weeks for all the affected stations to get fuel, should the strike end on Tuesday. RFA's meetings with Satawu would only resume on Tuesday, but there was no confirmation that the strike would be resolved on the day.

Sapa