Westonaria lies at the heart of the West Rand — a region shaped for more than a century by gold mining, heavy industry and the communities that grew up around them. It is also the home of Auto Blue Oils. For the founder of this company, the decision to base operations in Westonaria was never purely logistical — it was deeply personal. The communities of the West Rand are communities where the consequences of environmental neglect are visible, tangible and ongoing. Used oil disposal is one part of a larger story about what happens to water when industry and environment are not properly managed together.
The West Rand — encompassing Westonaria, Randfontein, Krugersdorp and surrounding areas — has been one of the most intensively mined regions in the world. Decades of gold mining have left behind a complex underground legacy: abandoned mine workings, acid mine drainage, disrupted water tables and contaminated groundwater systems that continue to evolve decades after the mines themselves closed.
Into this already stressed hydrological environment, the improper disposal of used oil adds another layer of contamination risk. Communities in and around Westonaria that rely on boreholes, informal water sources or poorly maintained municipal infrastructure are particularly vulnerable. Used oil contamination does not announce itself — it seeps slowly through soil, reaches aquifer systems, and may be consumed for months or years before its presence is detected.
Used oil is buoyant — it floats on water. When it reaches a water table, it forms a layer on the surface of the saturated zone that can persist for years. The heavy metals and organic compounds it carries — lead, zinc, cadmium, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — gradually dissolve into the groundwater over time, creating a contamination plume that spreads in the direction of groundwater flow.
For communities drawing water from boreholes downstream of a contamination source, the result can be water that looks and tastes normal but carries toxins that accumulate in the body over time. Chronic low-level exposure to lead causes neurological damage — particularly in children — that is irreversible. Certain PAHs are classified carcinogens. The health consequences of groundwater contamination from used oil are serious, long-term and often invisible until significant damage has already been done.
"Every drum of used oil we collect in the West Rand is one less threat to the water that families here depend on. That is not an abstraction for me — these are people I grew up with." — Moses Mokgosi, Founder, Auto Blue Oils
The informal automotive repair sector in Westonaria and surrounding townships generates significant volumes of used oil. Roadside mechanics, backyard workshops, informal fleet operators and small transport companies all change oil — and many do not have access to, or knowledge of, legitimate collection services. The oil ends up on the ground, in open drains, or in informal dumps, from where it makes its way into the environment.
This is not unique to the West Rand — it is a pattern repeated across industrial and peri-urban areas throughout South Africa. But it has a particular resonance in a region where the groundwater and surface water systems are already compromised and where the communities most affected are among the least resourced to deal with the consequences.
Auto Blue Oils' role in the Westonaria community goes beyond commercial collection contracts. The company actively engages with small operators in the informal sector — offering education about proper oil storage and the availability of legitimate collection, and working to connect informal workshops with the registered collection system at no cost to the generator where volumes allow.
The company also provides employment in a region where formal jobs remain scarce, and supports local supply chains where possible. The choice to keep the business headquartered in Westonaria — despite opportunities to relocate to areas with more industrial infrastructure — is a deliberate expression of commitment to the community that gave the business its origin and its purpose.
Westonaria is in many ways a microcosm of the environmental challenges South Africa faces more broadly. A region rich in industrial history, carrying the environmental debt of past practices, home to communities that need both economic opportunity and a healthier environment. Responsible used oil management is a small but meaningful part of addressing that challenge — not just in Westonaria, but wherever industry and community coexist across this country.
Every collection Auto Blue Oils makes in the West Rand is a litre of oil kept out of the ground, out of the water, and out of the bodies of the people who live alongside it. That is the work. And it matters.
Schedule a used oil collection today — safe, documented and fully compliant.