Imagine all the ingredients used to make dishwashing liquid, bleach, fabric softener and bath foam being poured into a single 250-litre barrel, decanted into recycled containers with colourant, perfume and additional water added to mimic well-known Unilever brands — and sold to customers.
That is how a close source described to Sowetan the process of making fake cleaning products which are allegedly mixed in bulk and repackaged in recycled branded containers.
From there they are allegedly sold to unsuspecting consumers in local markets, including the Rondebult Flea market, also known as Vegieland, taxi ranks, malls and other areas.
“They target pensioners who get the elderly people grant and customers who may not necessarily want to go to buy in established stores and prefer a cheap solution. They sell on Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturdays from very early in the morning until around 1pm, the operation is almost done,” said the source.
“Prices vary depending on whether you are buying in bulk or singularly. A combo pack of six items would cost R100.”
It is alleged that the chemicals are mixed in 200-litre barrels, and subsequently repackaged into recycled containers bearing labels of well-known brands manufactured by Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive
— Col Katlego Mogale, police pokesperson
On Tuesday the Hawks seized chemicals and manufactured detergents worth millions of rands at Windmill Park informal settlement in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni.
Police spokesperson Col Katlego Mogale said upon arrival at the premises, officers discovered large quantities of chemicals and finished products, including:
- thick bleach;
- fabric softener;
- dishwashing liquid;
- foam bath; and
- ammonia-based cream cleaner.
“It is alleged that the chemicals are mixed in 200-litre barrels, and subsequently repackaged into recycled containers bearing labels of well-known brands manufactured by Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive,” said Mogale.
On Wednesday SAPS officers bust a similar factory in Villa Liza and arrested two people.
According to the source, the duplicates are not tested for standardisation, nor are the ingredients measured.
“A key component was salt. They would boil water, add salt and the chemicals, bringing them to boiling point until it becomes a thick consistency, and they cool off the mixture in a barrel.
“From that mixture, they decant into other barrels, adding the perfuming material and colouring stuff to differentiate — like for instance, dishwashing liquid they would add the green colouring — and add lots of water and stir, then add to the recycled packaging. The concerning part is that the mix is the same despite the colouring and perfuming.”
The source alleged that the Villa Liza and Windmill Park operation might be linked, saying: “I think the two are linked because this guy used to say he was learning how to make the mixes from someone in Windmill Park.” However, the Hawks and police have not established any concrete links to date.
Mogale told Sowetan that no one has been arrested for the Windmill Park factory incident.
Gauteng police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi confirmed to the publication that two suspects, aged 22 and 24, found at the Villa Liza “factory” were arrested in Wednesday. The owner has not been arrested yet.
According to Nevhuhulwi, the products and chemicals will be subjected to forensic chemical analysis for further investigations.
Sowetan visited Vegieland at the Rondebult Flea Market, where products that look similar to the ones retrieved from Windmill Park and Villa Liza were being sold.
They sell refill fabric softener (Comfort) 800ml for R40, which usually retails for R65, and dishwashing liquid (Sunlight), whether 750ml or 1.5 litres, for the same price of R25, yet these are being sold for R75 at mainline retailers. The sellers claim they buy stock from a warehouse in Meadowdale.
Some of the containers looked dirty.
Unilever, whose products are among those most frequently mimicked, had not responded to Sowetan’s queries at the time of publication, nor had the South African Bureau of Standards.
Sowetan
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