Willowton Group confirms theft and welcomes swift recovery of some of the stolen goods

Willowton Group can confirm that on the morning of Wednesday, 5 October 2022, an armed robbery took place at one of its off-site warehouses in Kempton Park, Johannesburg.

The robbers held up the staff at the facility and proceeded to load three trucks, which is understood to be stolen trucks, with substantial quantities of 2L Sunfoil Sunflower Cooking Oil.

After opening a case with the South African Police Service, a notice was shared by Willowton Group on social media platforms offering a reward of R100 000 for any information that would lead to the successful apprehension of the perpetrators and/or recovery of the stolen goods.

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.

Members of the public are requested not to purchase any of the stolen stock. The batch codes of the stolen items are known to the police and security partners who are currently trying to locate the stock. The reward for any information leading to the successful recovery of the stolen Sunfoil Sunflower Cooking oil and the arrest of any of the perpetrators remains unchanged at R100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Rand).

We are grateful that no Willowton Group staff members were hurt during the incident, and they are all being provided with the necessary trauma counselling and support.

We would like to acknowledge and thank the South African Police Service, Vision Tactical, other security personnel and contractors who have been working tirelessly to recover the stock and bring the perpetrators to book.

While the investigation is at a very sensitive stage, we are unable to comment further. Any further developments will be communicated in due course.

Anyone with information about the stolen goods is urged to report this to 082 888 7813.

All information will be treated with the strictest confidence.