Baleni to lead new PetroSA board

Former general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers Frans Baleni has been appointed to lead the new PetroSA board.

Former general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Frans Baleni has been appointed to lead the new PetroSA board.

The entire board, except for Mthozami Xiphu, was replaced by the Central Energy Fund (CEF) on Friday. Business Day has seen the list of the new board members.

The ailing state-owned oil firm has been in a dire financial situation and has posted huge losses over the past five years. It also had a record R14.6bn net operating loss in the 2014/2015 financial year, the biggest by a state-owned entity.

There has been no stability in its top echelons, with the entire executive management and the board sitting in acting positions.

Baleni served on the previous board, which was instructed in April 2017 to resign or make oral submissions on why they should stay. In a letter, then CEF chair Luvo Makasi told the board the fund had been concerned about the financial standing and management of PetroSA.

Baleni resigned from the board in May 2017. In July 2017, the CEF removed the remaining board members, replacing them with an interim board. This board was meant to be replaced by a permanent board in April 2018, but this had not happened.

The interim board had been accused of holding meetings, for which members get a fee, yet making no progress in stabilising the company.

Makasi was removed as CEF chair by former energy minister Jeff Radebe in March, after serious allegations against him. According to reports, he was dismissed for trying to solicit a bribe of $2.5m from oil trading firms Glencore and Vitol on behalf of senior politicians and government officials.

Last week the cabinet appointed former SA Reserve Bank chief economist and executive GM Monde Mnyande to the position. The CEF on Monday confirmed that a new board had been appointed.