By Ahmed Areff and Carol Paton.
Nearly a year and a half after PetroSA parted ways with Pragasen Naidoo part-way into his contract as CEO, the state-owned oil company has finally named his replacement.
A Cabinet statement on Thursday named Xolile Sizani as the new CEO. Sizani is a former CEO of the facilities management group Servest as well as the Medipos medical scheme. Previously, he was a manager at Afrox and Sasol.
Sizani’s appointment comes after PetroSA chair Nkululeko Poya lost his chance to land the job. He is currently under investigation by the Hawks over a fabricated court order.
Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe had favoured Poya for the top job at PetroSA and submitted his name to the Cabinet last November. But his colleagues insisted that Poya be vetted before the appointment, given his record in the public service, which includes a string of adverse findings – from lying and spying on staff and manipulation of tenders. Poya did not pass the security clearance test, resulting in Mantashe putting forward a new name.
Poya said he is appealing the decision of the State Security Agency to deny his clearance as the fraudulent court order, claiming it was not his doing but that of his former “unscrupulous attorney”.
Last year, Solidarity, the National Union of Metalworkers SA (Numsa) and the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood, and Allied Workers’ Union (Ceppawu) wrote to acting PetroSA CEO Sandisiwe Ncemane complaining about Poya’s conduct and role in “pushing certain companies for business” and approving BEE suppliers without due diligence.
Earlier in February, Poya abruptly removed Ncemane, and replaced her with another member of staff after a dispute over a contract with a supplier.
PetroSA recently struck an agreement with Russian-owned Gazprombank to invest in refurbishing its gas to liquid fuels refinery. The potential transaction has caused some foreign banks to warn that they would cut ties with the SA state-owned company.
Previously, it was reported that, Naidoo still had three years to run on his contract and was paid a large portion of his remaining earnings as part of a golden handshake.
His annual salary was in the region of R5.4 million. Naidoo was the first permanent CEO since 2014.