Willowton Group probes oil spill choking Dusi river

The spill has already choked the river, with signs of a large-scale fish kill evident as of this morning.

WATCH: Oil spill causes major Dusi river fish kill

Officials say the water is off-limits to people and animals.

Both the Msunduzi and eThekwini municipalities are urging people not to drink or eat fish from the river. eThekwini says some of the caustic soda that made its way into the river has already been washed into the Inanda dam.

As such, the waterway from Pietermaritzburg to the Inanda dam has been declared unsafe.

The Willowton Group issued a statement this afternoon, saying an unforeseen incident occurred at its vegetable oil manufacturing facility on Tuesday afternoon.

WATCH: Dusi river off limits following major oil spill

"A vegetable oil storage tank collapsed and, in the process, brought down an adjacent tank. Two other tanks were slightly damaged. One contained sunflower oil and the other diluted caustic soda which is used in the manufacture of laundry soap," read the statement.

"The incident is under investigation to understand the cause of the collapse. Our main focus is to fully ascertain the environmental impact and to implement the containment and effect the necessary rehabilitation required."

Willowton says SpillTech and Drizit responded immediately after the incident and have been working on containment and remediation efforts. Willowton says the companies' core focus is to secure the external environment.

"The teams were able to contain the majority of the spill within our own facility. Unfortunately, some product managed to enter the Baynespruit tributary and then into the Dusi river."

"As a company we are concerned and committed to dealing with the incident and are proactively engaged with all parties to resolve this. In addition to the environmental impacts, any impacts to water users along the Baynesdrift Tributary and Dusi river will be reported and investigated."

Willowton says it will also make water tankers and bottled water available to affected parties as a precautionary measure.

"As a community-based business that has been operating within the Pietermaritzburg area since 1970, we are fully committed to working with the authorities and community to ensure the necessary remediation is undertaken."

"Willowton deeply regrets the occurrence and is doing everything possible to contain and remediate the affected environment."

The group says all the necessary authorities have been notified and all process will continue until rehabilitation is complete and officials are satisfied.