AMABHUNGANE: PetroSA was owed R227m, but may end up losing R1.4bn instead

State-owned fuel company PetroSA found itself in a precarious situation after agreeing to a seemingly attractive deal with fuel trader Nako Energy. Initially, PetroSA was owed R227 million by Nako for petrol bought in June 2024, which proved difficult to sell due to contamination from a harmful chemical additive. However, Nako owed PetroSA R832 million for a cargo of diesel it never paid for. In an attempt to resolve the situation, Nako convinced PetroSA to accept a new deal in May 2025.

Under the new agreement, PetroSA would purchase another 11 cargoes of unleaded petrol from Nako at a discounted rate of 45c per litre. Once PetroSA had sold 505 million litres of fuel, it would be R227 million richer, and Nako's debt would be eliminated. Despite the seemingly favorable terms, the deal turned out to be far worse than initially perceived. Once PetroSA acknowledged the debt, Nako transferred the paperwork to its creditors, who demanded payment for the same shipment of fuel.

This "bait-and-switch" tactic left PetroSA facing the possibility of losing R1.4 billion and even liquidation. Acting CEO Nombulelo Tyandela informed PetroSA staff that Nako had requested an order placing PetroSA under provisional liquidation in a High Court application on September 11. The company is now considering Parliament's passing of the South African National Petroleum Company Bill, which would roll all its debts into a new state-owned enterprise. PetroSA has not commented on the numerous inquiries it received regarding this matter.