Outrage! This sums up residents’ reaction to a publicity stunt by a local Caltex filling-station owner to promote his business by painting a massive Caltex logo on one of the landmark koppies at Matoks along the N1 between Makhado (Louis Trichardt) and Polokwane.

The enormous Caltex logo, promoting the Caltex filling station at Botlokwa, appeared about two weeks ago. Needless to say, it has since sparked widespread condemnation from the public and, with the koppies at Matoks being of great archaeological significance, left environmentalists fuming.

“Vandalism!!! Disgusting!!! Cheap stunt,” was Wilma Crous’s response on the Zoutpansberger’s Facebook page, while A D Muller wrote on the same page: “It is totally illegal ... Do Caltex think they are Boesmans ...?" Peter Schofield was as disappointed with Caltex, writing: “... tragic destruction of our natural heritage. Someone needs to take Caltex on in this regard.” (To view all the comments, visit the Zoutpansberger's Facebook page)

Prof Ben van der Waal, a well-known local environmentalist, was as upset. He said he had confronted the filling-station owner about the painting of the koppie. The owner’s response left him dumfounded. “He told me he got permission from the local chief to paint the koppie,” Van der Waal said.

Mr Alan McMurtrie of the Department of Environmental Affairs’ Wildlife and Trade office in Makhado (Louis Trichardt) said on Tuesday that he only found out about the painting of the koppie last Friday.

“Unfortunately, the policing side of what happened does not fall under the duties of the Wildlife and Trade Office. It should fall under Environmental Affairs’ law enforcement, but there is no law-enforcement officer for Makhado (Louis Trichardt),” McMurtrie said. Although condemning the incident, he was, however, not very shocked. “People just seem to do their own thing, despite the rules and regulations. You see it every day; for example, people driving at 150km an hour on the N1, despite the traffic rules and regulations. It’s like that with the environment as well,” McMurtrie said.

Chevron, under which the Caltex brand is marketed in South Africa, was asked on Monday whether they were aware of the painting of the koppie and what action they had taken to rectify the situation. Ms Suzanne Pullinger, communications manager at Chevron South Africa (Pty) Limited’s head office in Cape Town,  responded by email on Tuesday. She states: “Caltex had no knowledge of this proposed activity and are opposed to it. Building strong community relationships and protecting the environment in which we operate are core values of our corporation. We have instructed the parties concerned to request its immediate removal and will be counselling them with regard to the inappropriate and unauthorized use of our corporate brand.”

With regard to the removal of the painted sign and fears that it will have further destructive consequences for the environment, Pullinger says: “The removal of the sign is a complicated process and special effort has been made to minimize the impact on the environment. We ask for the patience of the community in this matter and would like to assure all parties that we are taking every precaution to ensure that the removal happens as quickly and as safely as possible.”

Evidence of Caltex’s commitment to having the unsightly painted logo removed was already visible on Tuesday with a team of cleaners, armed with high-pressure hoses, spotted on the koppie to remove the paint. What this exercise is costing Caltex is not known. It must be said that, despite overwhelming outrage over the painted koppie, there were those who liked it. “I tnk its beautiful,” wrote Fhatuwani Mulaudzi on the Facebook page of Limpopo Mirror, the Zoutpansberger’s sister publication. On the same page, Mphophenyu Moshapo wrote: “Brilliant marketing strategy, i hope they used environment friendly products … go green.”