Petrol or chemicals? Curious twist in Sasol’s theft saga

In a curious twist that has baffled police, Sasol has revealed it was petrol – and not chemicals – that was intercepted at its Secunda plant in Mpumalanga.

This was in stark contradiction to the statement released earlier by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks).

At the time, the Hawks reporter that the employees arrested by its Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit were trying to steal 26,900kg in chemicals to the value of R100,000.

Sasol chemicals theft

Petrol or chemicals?

According to police, the tanker was seized and the duo was arrested on Sunday morning after the driver of the tanker failed to produce documentation for the cargo.

But the energy and chemicals giant contradicted police on the contents of the tanker and told The Citizen the tanker was carrying petrol (ULP95).

“Two employees, one from a security services provider and the other from a transport services provider to Sasol, were intercepted by our Secunda security services team in their attempt to steal a tanker carrying petrol (ULP95).”

“The [police] were engaged immediately, leading to the arrest of the two assailants,” Sasol spokesperson Matebello Moltoung said.

She said this was a rare occurrence, and that an investigation into this matter is underway, along with the respective service providers, as well as the authorities.

Sasol’s contradiction

But on Monday afternoon, Hawks provincial spokesperson Captain Dineo Sekgotodi was adamant that the tanker, which she said was currently at the Secunda police station, was carrying chemicals.

She found Sasol’s contradiction not only bizarre but also curious, asking if the multi-national company was suggesting that police could not identify petrol.

“I do not understand why they would say it’s petrol when it is not but I can only speak for the police. What I can say is that police have seized chemicals and arrested two suspects in connection with the incident,” Sekgotodi said.

She said a sample of the chemicals was taken for analysis and identification.

However, on Tuesday morning, Sekgotodi changed her statement and said analysis had confirmed it was actually petrol in the tanker, as Sasol had earlier said.

The plant manufactures dozens of chemicals – including acetates, ammonia, glycol ethers and mining chemicals.

Alleged teamwork

Workers are adamant the attempted theft of R100,000 worth of chemicals from the energy and chemicals giant’s Secunda plant in Mpumalanga could not have been the work of only two people.

According to the staff member who spoke to The Citizen on condition of anonymity, there were too many unanswered questions regarding the incident.

The procedure to load chemicals into a tanker was elaborate, the employee said, and has to go through a number of checkpoints to verify the load.

“Before the tanker gets to the main gate, there [is] paperwork that must be completed by at least three checkpoints. How did it get to the main gate?” the worker asked.

The staff member questioned how the tanker managed to drive into the depot without a legitimate pick-up order as this was the requirement.

“The guard also was not working alone and I believe other guards were involved. I am not aware of this happening but I am sure it has been happening for some time. You do not wake up one day and decide to do something like this,” the worker said.

On Monday, the driver, Mpostoli John Sindane (46) and the guard, Sfiso Buthelezi (34) appeared before the Secunda magistrate’s court on charges of conspiracy and possession of the suspected stolen property.

The duo was remanded in custody and is expected to make a formal bail application on Friday.

National Key Point

In January last year, during the early hours on a Sunday, several robbers armed with firearms held up employees at the Sasol plant, one of the 27 national key point installations in the province.

The robbers struck Sasol Solvents Sasol Unit (SSU) and allegedly demanded metal rhodium, a prized commodity mostly used in catalytic converters to reduce harmful exhaust gases, but left empty-handed.

This incident also raised serious questions on how the robbers, who allegedly stole four vehicles from the plant, bypassed security and managed to gain entry into the plant with guns.