SA oil manufacturer says some of its stolen goods were recovered

Cooking oil has become so expensive that a group of gunmen stormed one of Willowton Group’s warehouses and stole an undisclosed quantity of its sunflower cooking oil in two litre bottles. Picture: Jehran Naidoo/Independent Media

Cooking oil has become so expensive that a group of gunmen stormed one of Willowton Group’s warehouses and stole an undisclosed quantity of its sunflower cooking oil in two litre bottles. Picture: Jehran Naidoo/Independent Media

Published Oct 6, 2022

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Durban - The Willowton Group, a South African cooking oil manufacturer, said on Thursday that they managed to recover some of the cooking oil that armed suspects stole from a warehouse in Gauteng yesterday.

The company confirmed that an off-site warehouse in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, was robbed by armed suspects.

It said the suspects held up the staff at the premises and loaded three trucks “with substantial quantities of 2L Sunfoil Sunflower Cooking Oil”.

The group said it opened a case afterwards and offered a R100 000 reward for any information leading the suspects.

“The police and our security partner in Gauteng, Vision Tactical, worked tirelessly throughout the day and night.

“Following information received, we can confirm that one of the three truckloads was recovered in Vanderbijlpark last night, and a number of suspects were arrested.

“We are still working with the police and our security partners to recover the remaining two truckloads of stock that are still missing,” the Willowton Group said.

Upon announcing the theft, the company said that it was tracking down the stolen items using batch numbers.

It said trauma counselling was offered to its staff members affected by the armed robbery.

IOL has reached out to the SAPS in Gauteng for more details on the case and is awaiting their response.

IOL