Fuelling scandal: Inside PetroSA’s R933m deal with mostly unknown energy firm

702's Bongani Bingwa is joined by Susan Comrie, an investigative journalist with the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism.

Listen below:

How greasy are the hands that run our oil industry?

In its latest revealing exposé as part of its 'Dirty Fuels' series, AmaBhungane, the investigative journalism outfit, shed light on state-owned PetroSA’s secretive diesel trading business.

Specifically, a R933-million deal between the state-owned entity and the little-known company Nako Energy.

The deal was awarded without a tender, lacked a legal contract, and had no payment guarantees.

A year later, Nako still owes PetroSA R825-million.

So, just what do we know about Nako Energy?

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"They were started in 2022, and they're virtually unknown outside of PetroSA."

- Susan Comrie, AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism

But inside PetroSA, they seem to have become a 'favoured partner', says Comrie.

And the R933-million worth of diesel?

"PetroSA has been wildly buying up cargoes of diesel. But they weren't paying attention to whether they could actually sell those cargos, whether they had storage for that fuel."

- Susan Comrie, AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism

When they were no longer able to sell those cargos to Eskom (because loadshedding had suddenly come to an end), they had to find a buyer.

"And they settle on Nako. There are a huge number of international oil companies operating in South Africa that they could have sold this cargo to."

- Susan Comrie, AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism

What happened instead was the massive, precarious deal with Nako, which Comrie says has left PetroSA in a 'real pickle'.

To hear more on this story from AmaBhungane's Susan Comrie, scroll up to the audio player.

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