Petrol station operator goes to war with Chevron

The owner of a small business has taken on fuel giant Chevron in a lawsuit in which he claims the company tampered with his payment system, costing him more than R10-million.

Vusimuzi Mthimkhulu, 55, has been operating his Caltex service station in Daveyton, on the East Rand, since 1993.

"For more than two decades we had a good relationship. I was the best seller for years. I bought all the furniture in my house with the money from all the awards I won. I was their star franchise at some point. [But] things started to change after I wanted to take over the lease agreement with the municipality."

In 2012, Mthimkhulu had to shut down his petrol station - his only source of income - for nine months to repair leaking pumps. He said Chevron, which has a network of Caltex-branded service stations across South Africa, had promised to reimburse him for his losses during the shutdown, but never did.

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When he opened again in 2013, he found that the new sales payment system Chevron had installed did not work properly.

According to papers filed in the High Court in Johannesburg, some items at the Fresh Stop convenience store were sold for nothing or R1, other items were deleted from the system, and other prices were changed without Mthimkhulu's knowledge.

Documents also indicate that on a number of days, petrol was sold at less than the regulated price, while the price of diesel "fluctuated at will".

On Thursday, a day after Chevron was due to file responding papers, the company sent Mthimkhulu a letter demanding he vacate the property by June 11. "While our client is under no obligation to provide further reasons for terminating the oral agreement, we are instructed that you are, in any event, in material breach of that agreement," reads the letter, claiming Mthimkhulu obtained fuel from another company between January 2014 and September 2015.

Chevron spokeswoman Suzanne Pullinger had earlier said the company did not have access to Mthimkhulu's payment system.

"Investigations conducted by IT specialists into the integrity of the systems confirmed that no irregularities were detected in the fuel point-of-sale system. These reports have been shared with Mr Mthimkhulu," she said.

Asked this week about the court application, she said the company could not comment as Mthimkhulu had "commenced legal proceedings against Chevron". However, she said the action would be defended.

Mthimkhulu said that back in 1993, he had seen a business opportunity in filling stations and had approached the Daveyton city council, now under the Ekurhuleni municipality, which directed him to find "legitimate" business partners.

He entered into a partnership with Chevron, which was given a 20-year lease on land for the petrol station by the municipality.

"Besides a few houses in the area there was no development," Mthimkhulu said. "This area was just farms; the only schools were prefab and you knew who drove which cars. But I foresaw a future here and because of the support of the community I grew very fast."

Mthimkhulu claims the lease gave him first preference to buy the land after 20 years. He had paid R109,000 to Chevron every month for the land, rates and taxes. After 20 years he had paid a total of R26-million.

He first approached Chevron regarding the agreement on the land in 2005. He said Chevron had appeared positive and it was only when he approached the municipality that he noticed a reluctance by Chevron to let him buy the land.

block_quotes_start For more than two decades we had a good relationship ... I was their star franchise at some point. [But] things started to change after I wanted to take over the lease agreement with the municipality." block_quotes_end

Mthimkhulu claims Chevron had for years disregarded his concern that his petrol tanks were leaking. Only after he approached an arbitrator did it investigate and agree to shut down his operation and fix the problem. For nine months in 2012 his pumps were closed. "I went into severe debt."

In July 2013, he was allowed to reopen his garage but had to raise money to build a Fresh Stop store. During the overhaul, Chevron had installed a new payment system, which had led to further financial woes due to faulty pricing, Mthimkhulu said. "During the system tampering I lost more than R10-million and Chevron refuses to take responsibility."

The problem persisted until December 2013, when Chevron again said it would investigate. Mthimkhulu said many meetings were held with numerous IT specialists, from Chevron and hired by himself, who found evidence of tampering with the main computer.

Mthimkhulu said he finally removed the payment system and put in his own, and that he was only now beginning to recover from years of debt.

A trial date has yet to be set.

sabaa@sundaytimes.co.za