Sasol and a conservation group clashed on Wednesday, with the petrochemical giant denying building in an environmentally sensitive area without permission.
Environment and Conservation Association (ECA) chairperson Nicole Barlow accused Sasol of erecting luxury offices, without authorisation, along the Natalspruit River in Germiston on Gauteng’s East Rand.
”They are building offices in an area that is environmentally sensitive without obtaining relevant authorisation,” Barlow charged.
”This development is destroying the surrounding habitat.”
Sasol spokesperson Johann van Rheede denied the claim.
”[The] immediate fact is that we don’t own, but simply lease, a building in the complex referred to. We have no knowledge of any construction in that area.”
Barlow said the ”reality is that Natalspruit has to flow, and this [construction] must be stopped”.
The ECA was instrumental in the halting of the construction of a Sasol-linked filling station in Libradene in Boksburg last year because it was to have been built on a wetland.
Reacting to Sasol’s denial, Barlow said her claim — which was based on information from the developers — was correct and she would not apologise ”unless Sasol proved otherwise”. — Sapa