SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SAGA: Sasol claims innocence as NPA gathers fresh evidence in toxic dumping probe

Sasol is mounting a technical defence against allegations of illegal chemical dumping into the Klipspruit River, even as fresh NPA raids signal expanding criminal investigations into Sasol’s Secunda operations.

As the scrutiny of Sasol’s operations at its Benfield facilities in Secunda intensifies, SA’s largest petrochemical and chemical manufacturing company continues to maintain its innocence in the face of seven-year-old allegations by a whistleblower that it unlawfully discharged hazardous chemical waste into the Klipspruit River between 2012 and 2019.

This comes after Sasol abruptly halted answering questions during a meeting of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment on 4 August.

The company closed ranks after National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) investigators executed fresh search warrants at its Secunda operations while executives were appearing before the committee.

Sasol’s written responses to the committee’s questions revealed that investigators spent two days conducting detailed inspections and gathering evidence from the Benfield plant and its surrounding infrastructure.

The evidence gathered included water and chemical samples from multiple control points, along with inspections of the infrastructure cited by whistleblower Ian Erasmus in 2019 – specifically the chemical sewer network, isolation valves and routes to the API dams (containment reservoirs named after the American Petroleum Institute standard used to design them).

Despite this, Sasol maintains its innocence, which is echoed in its assertion that the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and the NPA do not have a case against it.

“Sasol does not believe that there is a basis for any criminal proceedings to be instituted in relation to its Benfield operations... Sasol is not in a position to speculate or respond on behalf of the NPA regarding the basis on which it may consider any further proceedings,” said the company.

In its written responses, Sasol answered general questions regarding air quality roadmaps, capital expenditure (citing R16-billion spent on environmental initiatives since 2018) and accountability processes. But it systematically stonewalled direct questions about water quality tests on surrounding water sources at the time of Erasmus’s allegations by invoking its constitutional right against self-incrimination.

While tight-lipped on the criminal merits, Sasol offered a granular, step-by-step technical defence to prove that chemical waste from the Benfield plant could not physically reach the Klipspruit or Vaal River systems.

According to Sasol, the facility was engineered with redundant, closed-loop containment systems designed specifically to prevent toxic run-off:

Step 1: Primary Containment & Bunding: Toxic process chemicals, including vanadium, potassium carbonate and diethanolamine, are handled within fully concreted, bunded areas designed to catch any localised spills.

Step 2 & 3: The Chemical Sewer & Oily Water Network: Any run-off or wash-down water drains directly into a dedicated chemical sewer.