South Africa's proposed shift from voluntary to mandatory strategic petroleum stockholding may strengthen protection against fuel supply shocks, but will require importers to finance more stock and risk trapping the working capital needed to keep trade moving, says cross-border financial technology firm Verto. The dual-obligation model detailed in the gazetted Draft Strategic Petroleum Stocks Policy requires State strategic stocks equivalent to 60 days of net imports that will be managed by the South African National Petroleum Company, and 21 days of mandatory stocks for licensed wholesalers and importers.