The establishment and operationalisation of the state petroleum company under the Central Energy Fund (CEF) Group is a commendable development that calls for the South African National Petroleum Company Bill to be tabled to Parliament urgently.
This view was expressed by Mr Mikateko Mahlaule, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources, in a committee meeting yesterday with the Central Energy Fund (CEF) Group, PetroSA and South African National Petroleum Company (SANPC).
The meeting was held at the PetroSA headquarters in Parow to brief the committee on the initiatives regarding the turnaround of PetroSA and for an update on the operationalisation of SANPC. SANPC is the newly established state petroleum company after three CEF subsidiaries were merged, namely PetroSA, the South African Gas Development Company (iGas) and the Strategic Fuel Fund (AFF). The company went live on 1 May 2025 and has 420 employees and other assets transferred from PetroSA, iGas and SFF.
The South African National Petroleum Company Bill, which will be the primary piece of legislation governing the affairs of SANPC, was approved by Cabinet in October 2024 for tabling in Parliament. However, the Bill is still not before Parliament, which is a matter of concern to Mr Mahlaule.
According to the explanatory note gazetted by Minister Mantashe in October 2024, the Bill seeks to provide for the establishment of SANPC, its objects and functions as well as the constitution of the Board and the management thereof, among other things.
However, in the absence of the specific legislation providing for the establishment of SANPC, the company was established in terms of section 54 of the Public Finance Management Act 1 of 1999 as amended, and it derives its mandate from the Central Energy Fund Act 38 of 1977.
In June 2020, Cabinet took a decision to merge PetroSA, iGas and SFF as part of government’s initiative to repurpose and rationalise state-owned companies.
According to Mr Tshepo Mokoka, CEF’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, the merger of these subsidiaries presents an opportunity to stabilise and strategically address several external and internal factors that were affecting the delivery of the CEF’s mandate and weak value proposition.
SANPC will be launched officially by Minister Mantashe on 23 May 2025.
