Talk:Sasol

Vandalism and personal vendetta by RabbitWolf
There is an edit war occurring in this article initiated by the user RabbitWolf. It appears that their intention is not to improve Wikipedia and their changes are only made because of their vendetta against Sasol. Unfortunately their intention to damage Sasol's reputation means that normal dispute resolution and discussion of disputed changes is not occurring.

As per Wikipedia's normal dispute resolution process: 10bucchr (talk) 19:27, 1 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Please discuss disputed changes and reversions here on the talk page before continuing the re-versioning
 * RabbitWolf, please declare your personal connection and conflict of interest regarding Sasol before making further changes


 * I have great personal knowledge of Sasol FACTS and HISTORY. All my edits are heavily cited with various official news articles, which are verifiable by reputable news outlets.
 * Your edits removed ALL TRUE facts of Sasol which exposes the truth and true dealings of Sasol.
 * You are clearly trying to hide stone cold facts about Sasol, therefore it has become exceedingly clear that you are a paid for contractor for Sasol. You sir are NOT editing Wikipedia for the benefit of sharing knowledge. You are trying to promote Sasol as a benevolent company with no fault.
 * As stated, ALL my edits are heavily cited with reputable sources, and as such is in the interest of the world to know about Sasol. RabbitWolf (talk) 06:22, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * As soon as you and Lukewarm100 aka sockpuppet, declare your affiliation with Sasol.
 * Instead of reading through, and EDITING my edits, you just delete ALL my edits. You are clearly a paid for party by Sasol.
 * Remember the essence of Wikipedia is to have articles which reflect the truth and Wikipedia is not to be used as a promotional tool for Sasol.
 * Keep removing my valid and heavily cited edits and I will inform admin.
 * If you want to "edit" my edits, then do so. To delete all my edits just proves my case for me. RabbitWolf (talk) 07:27, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * RabbitWolf - I have already declared a connection. Please read the talk page carefully and do the same.
 * Secondly, please do involve an admin (I don't know how to do it). But only do so after having a civil discussion on this talk page. Please discuss the changes you would like to make. Obviously your tone is not acceptable and we can't have you uploading pictures of your grinning face on the page? 10bucchr (talk) 13:40, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * You keep trying to rose color Sasol's actions, which clearly shows you have a very personal affiliation with Sasol. From what you have already read in your replies, you keep talking about "Sasol's reputation" after deleting my very well cited edits to Sasol's article. You don't edit my edits, you obviously do not want ANY negativity about Sasol, regardless of how true it is, regardless of all the very many reputable news and media outlets reporting on Sasol's pollution. I am not damaging Sasol's reputation, Sasol is doing a splendid job of that themselves with their actions, I am merely adding facts and citations about their actions to a Wikipedia article. There is no speaking to a person like you, you clearly are affiliated with Sasol, most probably a manager at Sasol, or a paid social media editor. Keep deleting my legitimate edits, I will just keep rewriting it. Unfortunately for Sasol is that they do not own Wikipedia, nor does Wikipedia bow to Sasol's promotional information it has added to it's company article. Wikipedia is based on facts, and the fact is Sasol has polluted the environment, the air and the water. The photographs I upload is original photographs as per the rules of Wikipedia, and the photographs does show factual imagery of the Sasol Secunda plant. RabbitWolf (talk) 16:08, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Firstly I'd like to say thank you for starting a discussion rather than simply reversioning.
 * I obviously disagree with your accusations - please see my declaration at the top of the page for more info. Once again I'd encourage you to make a similar declaration.
 * Perhaps you could propose your changes on the talk page before adding to the main page. This way we can get the relevant information published without the bias? 10bucchr (talk) 16:48, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Undo your deletions, and edit the parts you do not agree with, and then we can take it from there.
 * You are NOT admin on Wikipedia, nor are you the Sasol Wikipedia page police who I need to ask for permission before adding heavily cited facts. RabbitWolf (talk) 17:19, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Please try to converse civilly here. I'll not be undoing my deletions because your additions are too many and too difficult to fix because every sentence was written in anger. Perhaps we can discuss alternative ways to add your information, maybe a separate page with a link from the main page? 10bucchr (talk) 18:07, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * I am done negotiating with you. My edits are legitimate and heavily cited facts about Sasol. RabbitWolf (talk) 18:20, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Sorry RabbitWolf, why are you done? Isn't the point to have an open discussion, it's not a hostage negotiation? 10bucchr (talk) 18:52, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Keep trying to protect your employer. The truth will come out regardless. RabbitWolf (talk) 16:21, 2 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Also Lukewarm100 and all the other editors who have removed your (let us be honest) rants, are completely unaffiliated with me. I don't know how to prove this but I'm sure admins do know how to confirm? 10bucchr (talk) 15:10, 2 November 2023 (UTC)

I've copied the following discussion from User talk:10bucchr because it is a dispute about this page's content and should be on this talk page instead.


 * I have to question your neutrality in this case. It seems as though you have an axe to grind with Sasol, and Wikipedia is not the place to do it. The images and captions you have added, documenting Sasol's supposed air pollution, appear to be largely water vapor emissions from industrial cooling towers. To say that they are anything different, without sources, is biased original research. While the facts you have added are properly cited, the tone of the article is decidedly non-neutral, and gives undue weight to the matters at hand. WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 11:41, 3 November 2023 (UTC)
 * @WikiDan61 Thank you for the feedback.
 * The smoke coming out of the two very tall smokestacks is from burning coal, not just like an average power station, but if you look at Sasol's "Fischer Tropsch" process you will note that Sasol burns coal together with Oxygen and steam in order to create the Synthetic Gas from which they produce their products. In the citations I added is governmental studies which show that the Sasol Secunda facility is non-compliant with the "Minimum Emission Standards" of South Africa. Sasol has been non-compliant in this regard since 2015, and Sasol has used litigation against the South African government in order to be allowed to be non-compliant with no repercussions. I live in this town Secunda where this Sasol factory is, therefore I have many such photographs, but what I also know, as most Secunda residents do, is that those emissions smell like H2S, Sulphur, or other noxious gasses, especially when it rains, unfortunately photographs do not do the situation justice.
 * As for my background, I am a resident of Secunda, not affiliated with Sasol. As for my edits, they are factual and cited. And the very real situation is that Sasol Secunda is a stranded asset, and because of their own actions of polluting the largest fresh water source of South Africa, as well as the air pollution non-compliance, Sasol faces closure in the near future.
 * How may I change the tone of my edits? RabbitWolf (talk) 14:14, 3 November 2023 (UTC)

The smoke coming out of those smokestacks could be anything; we have only your word for it that those particular images represent actual air pollution. Doubtless Sasol has added to air pollution in their plants' neighborhoods, and such things can be documented, but random photos showing purported air pollution with no proof of that do not help. And what you know as a resident of Secunda is irrelevant: Wikipedia relies on reliable sources, not "what I know is...". Your claim that "Sasol faces closure in the near future" would need a reliable source, not just your own opinion on the matter. As for changing the tone of your edits: you'll need to stop trying to assail the reputation of Sasol. You clearly have a bad opinion of the company, and perhaps rightfully so, but those opinions do not have a place at Wikipedia. Nor do we need countless citations to South African laws and court cases -- that type of citation involves original research (i.e. the assumption that a specific law applies in a specific case). Please (when you are again permitted to edit), limit changes to facts that can be cited to reliable secondary sources: newspapers, magazines, television and radio news programs, etc. Interviews with Ian Erasmus, who clearly as a grievance against Sasol, are not useful since they do not have the required neutrality. And when you edit, keep this thought in mind: "am I reporting facts, or am I trying to assail Sasol's reputation?" If the latter is true, your motivation is wrong, and your edits will not stick. WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 14:56, 3 November 2023 (UTC)


 * No problem. I will then only state facts form reliable sources. I do have citations regarding the air pollution, I will add those to each picture I upload. RabbitWolf (talk) 17:24, 3 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Insufficient. The fact that you can cite that Sasol produces air pollution does not verify that the images you have uploaded represent that air pollution. WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 17:26, 3 November 2023 (UTC)
 * No problem. I will post the pictures then without any statements. Just the location of the photographs. RabbitWolf (talk) 06:01, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
 * I would ask you to seek consensus for that. The images, accompanying the section detailing Sasol's air pollution problems, but lacking any captions, would have an implication that they represent Sasol's pollution, but again, without verification. WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 12:23, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
 * @WikiDan61
 * No problem, thank you for the advice. I will seek independent editors on the notice/discussion boards in order to help me label photographs and also read my suggested page edits on the Sasol Talk page from independent users in order to remove my tone while still adding factual edits to Sasol's article.
 * So as not to give all the editing say to @10bucchr, or to obtain his approval to every one of my additions as a self appointed Sasol policeman, as he is clearly on the other side of the spectrum as me, whereas he is trying to subdue and police Sasol's article and maintain it's promotional tone. RabbitWolf (talk) 15:17, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
 * I would start with the dispute resolution noticeboard. You can request independent review of the dispute there. I would point out that I am an independent reviewer of this page, having nothing to do with the Sasol or South Africa in general, but you are free to seek other independent voices as well. WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 15:39, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
 * @WikiDan61
 * Thank you very much. Will keep that in mind.
 * The aim was to just get the facts about Sasol on it's article, as it was clearly written by Sasol for promotional purposes when I first started adding to their article. And although I aim to post the truth and facts about their dealings, I understand that my tone was wrong, and I will aim to keep it "toneless" and factual in the future.
 * @Drmies I believe have removed some amount of promotional information of Sasol around June. RabbitWolf (talk) 16:07, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
 * I sure did, but I also reverted you. RabbitWolf, I know what you want, but you are not going about it the right way. You're duking it out with an editor who is much more even-keeped than you and who is smart enough not to go fighting over content that I removed. In addition, the problem is just sourcing. Just looking at this edit--you're restoring a paragraph that has been marked as uncited for years, you're inserting a photograph that leans on original research, you're sticking in "culture of fear" three times without attributing the quote or clearly linking to the source, you claim that the company "unlawfully dismissed a whistleblower" without citing a secondary source--I could go on.The result of your edit warring and the amount of improperly verified material is that no one can object to reverting your edits, and so important information which was also in that huge edit just disappears or gets lost in the mix. As a result, we now have a little section all the way at the bottom with a "controversy" or two, but not "Sasol's documented environmental pollution" as an integral part of the article. So you are doing your cause a disservice. You have to go about this the proper way: with secondary sources, with neutral writing, with proper attribution of quotes, and in a piecemeal fashion. You're being outplayed by a COI editor who's probably been schooled in PR writing and to a large extent is having their way with the article (and I can't blame them--that's their job), when Wikipedia could be the forum where both you (grudgingly or not) will have to reach or abide by a compromise. Good luck. Drmies (talk) 17:07, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
 * @Drmies
 * Thank you very much.
 * Yes, my tone was wrong. I will adjust and redo edits, with more citations, quotes, whatever is needed. Because despite what I, or the other user thinks of Sasol, a fact is a fact and it should be on a Wikipedia article instead of the Sasol article being used by pro Sasol persons as a false narrative or advertisement. The fact that this user was even allowed to remove ALL my edits as a whole just because of SOME of my tone errors, is a controversy in itself. RabbitWolf (talk) 17:37, 6 November 2023 (UTC)

Deleted sections to be restored
The following sections were removed for having obvious promotional intentions. I believe this valuable information should be restored - minus the promotional stance.

Under: Technology

Fischer–Tropsch processes
The Sasol slurry phase distillate process (SPDTM) transforms natural gas into energy and chemical products, including transport fuels, base oils, waxes, paraffins and naphtha. The three-stage process combines three proprietary technologies. Natural gas is combined with oxygen to form a syngas which is then subjected to a Fischer–Tropsch process conversion, resulting in waxy synthetic crude. Finally, this is cracked down to produce the end product.

The strength of the process is not simply in the inherent quality of the three component technologies but more importantly how they are combined and integrated to increase efficiencies and optimise output. The liquid fuels produced through Sasol's GTL and CTL technologies are high-performance, low-emission products. The synthetic GTL-based diesel is an environmentally cleaner burning fuel as it leads to a reduction in carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and particulate matter without compromising NOx emissions even when compared to European sulfur-free diesel.

A high-temperature syngas conversion process is operated in Secunda in a series of 10 Sasol advanced Synthol (SASTM) reactors at high pressure with the aid of an iron-based Fischer–Tropsch process catalyst at about 350 °C to yield primarily C1 – C20 range hydrocarbons. The process also produces water and oxygenated hydrocarbons which are then purified and marketed. The C2 stream is split into ethylene and ethane. The ethane is further cracked to yield additional ethylene which are then converted into polyethylene for the polymer business. Propylene from Secunda and Sasolburg plants are also converted into high-value products such as polypropylene, butanol, butyl acrylate and ethyle acrylate. The acrylates are used to make superabsorbent polymers which are used in diapers. Through proprietary technology 1-hexene, 1-octene and 1-pentene are recovered from the oil stream. International customers use these as co-monomers for making speciality grade polymers. Some of the higher olefins (C11 – C12) are converted into detergent-range alcohols.

A low-temperature syngas conversion process is operated in Sasolburg based on an iron-based catalyst in fixed-bed tubular and Sasol SPDTM processes to produce mainly linear hydrocarbon waxes and paraffins. The syngas (mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide) is also converted in methanol, butanol and ammonia. Ammonia is then converted into nitric acid and ammonium-based fertilizers and explosives.

Tetramerization
In 1997 Sasol Technology Research and Development began research on the selective trimerisation of ethylene to 1-hexene. This led to the development and patenting of 6 trimerisation catalyst systems. A groundbreaking innovation was made in 2002, with the discovery of a trimerisation catalyst that could make 1-octene in high selectivity. This was considered impossible by international experts in the field. Construction of this first-of-a-kind plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is under way. The ready for commissioning date is August 2013.

Social investments and sponsorship
Sasol devotes most of its sponsorship investment in South Africa to Sports. Among others, Sasol sponsors South Africa's national teams, including:


 * The South Africans Women's Football team – Banyana Banyana
 * The South African Paralympics team
 * The South African Men's National Wheelchair Basketball team

Sasol also sponsors the annual Sasol Rally, the Sasol New Signatures art competition, the Black Tie Ensemble, the South African National Youth Orchestra, Sasol GTC (Global Touring Cars) and the Techno X Festival of Science, Engineering and Technology.

Environmental conservation programmes, on the other hand, focused on:


 * Wild dogs, vultures and ground hornbills
 * The support of educational programmes including natural history publications
 * Birding related projects

Sasol also supports the following corporate initiatives:


 * Nepad Business Foundation
 * Business Trust
 * Black Management Forum

Sasol Corporate Art Collection
In 1983 the company began a permanent art collection comprising artworks from over 2000 South African artists. The collection focuses on collecting contemporary art but hosts some historical South African works. In 2017 Cate Terblanche was appointed curator of the collection which includes works by Luan Nel, Clive van den Berg, Kevin Brand, Kagiso Patrick Mautloa, Peter Schütz, Stephanus Rademeyer and Marco Cianfanelli.

The Collection also sponsors Sasol New Signatures Competition annually. 10bucchr (talk) 21:30, 1 November 2023 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion: You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 11:01, 10 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Sasol logo.png

Commons files used on this page or its Wikidata item have been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons files used on this page or its Wikidata item have been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 11:23, 20 September 2022 (UTC)
 * ORYX GTL Plant - Qatar.jpg
 * SASOL Gas Pipeline - Temane - Mozambique.jpg
 * SASOL Olefins and Surfactants - Lake Charles - Louisiana.jpg
 * VW - Sasol Racing Rally Car.jpg

Pipes running from Johannesburg to Sasol that no one knew about
The pipeline that was kept classified from the public so the ANC wouldn't bomb it as it ran from Johannesburg to Sasol Two Adamthe mememaster (talk) 15:46, 20 June 2023 (UTC)

Content dispute November 2023
There has been a recent content dispute between and other editors (including,  and now  (myself). I have reverted RabbitWolf's edits for lack of neutrality and original research as well as giving undue weight to matters of pollution and whistelblower issue. I strongly recommend that RabbitWolf come to this talk page to discuss the issue rather than simply restoring their preferred version of the article.  WikiDan61 ChatMe!ReadMe!! 12:19, 3 November 2023 (UTC)