Petrochemicals giant Sasol unwittingly supplied the raw material for bombs made by rebels in the eastern DRC accused of committing a series of gruesome massacres. A report handed to the UN Security Council last week found that improvised explosive devices used by rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo were filled with Explogel V6, which is made by Sasol South Africa. Explogel V6 is a yellow fertiliser-based explosive used in the mining industry.Sasol said this week that the UN had not informed the company that its explosives were being used to make the bombs.The company had complied with a request from UN investigators for information on Explogel V6 sales."It did not disclose the reasons for the request," said spokesman Alex Anderson."Sasol is very disturbed by the fact that our products were used illegally and for criminal means."The bombs were made by the Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamist rebel group active in the eastern DRC. They were mostly used to attack convoys of DRC soldiers engaged in offensives against them.Military operations against DRC rebels are supported by a UN peacekeeping force that includes a large contingent of South African soldiers.The DRC government has blamed ADF for massacres in and around the city of Beni that have claimed more than 550 lives since September 2014. The most recent attacks took place in May this year.However, local leaders and civil society groups have cast doubt on this explanation, pointing out that ADF has been active in the area for two decades and never massacred civilians before. To date, no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.The UN group of experts, which interviewed 92 witnesses and more than 30 rebels and their supporters - including two who had taken part in the massacres - found ADF partly responsible while also blaming elements of the DRC military known by the acronym FARDC.story_article_left1The panel's "most significant finding" on weapons used by the rebels was that raw materials for the ADF's bombs came from Sasol's plants in South Africa. There was "no indication of any wrongdoing on the part of the company", which had complied with export rules.The report details how Sasol's Explogel V6 landed up in rebel hands.Sasol legally sold 31,797 cases to three companies in Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe between July 2014 and December 2015.Of these, 4,800 cases were sold on to Mbogo Mining, a Tanzanian company under investigation by Tanzanian authorities for illegal sales of explosives.The owner of Mbogo Mining, Barnabas Nibengo, told Business Times that he bought explosives from Nash Explosives in Zambia and Intrachem in Zimbabwe, "not straight from Sasol". He was aware his company was under investigation in Tanzania but denied any wrongdoing. "We are not doing anything illegal."The report said two ADF supporters in Tanzania bought the Explogel V6 on the black market in Tanzania and transported it to rebel camps near Beni in the DRC. Both were later arrested. Explogel is sold for up to $320 (R4,600) a case on the black market, four times its market price.Last year, Tanzanian security forces seized Explogel V6 in a house in Dar es Salaam that belonged to a close associate of ADF leader Jamil Mukulu.Sasol confirmed that during the period under investigation it had sold Explogel V6 to licensed entities - Sasol Nitro Zambia, Nitro Explosives Tanzania and Intrachem in Zimbabwe. Sasol Nitro Zambia sold the product to "another independent, licensed customer" in Zambia, Nash Explosives."There were no sales by Sasol of Explogel V6 to Mbogo Mining Tanzania or any other third parties," said Anderson."As a manufacturer of a potentially hazardous product, particularly if abused and not used for its intended purpose, we take product stewardship very seriously and place stringent controls on the management of explosives, including distribution to customers," said Anderson.Controls include requiring customers to provide Sasol with their licences and permits, and submitting to audits in South Africa by the police's chief inspector of explosives.Although the company had not known its products were being used to make bombs by DRC rebels, it was "aware that in general explosives are sought after for use in criminal activities" in South Africa, including for ATM bombings.Sasol and the chief inspector met every three months to discuss controls to curb the illegal use of explosives. There had been no thefts from Sasol's South African facilities in the past 12 months, he said.stephanh@sundaytimes.co.za..