South Africa state-owned oil firm boss resigns amid graft probe

The chairman of South Africa’s state-owned oil firm PetroSA has resigned after an internal investigation into alleged financial irregularities in a procurement deal with Ghana, the company said on Monday.

PetroSA did not state what connection Benny Mokaba may have had in the scandal.

Last week the Mail & Guardian reported that PetroSA paid an extra $20 million for the acquisition of Sabre Oil and Gas Holdings Limited, which has acreage in Ghana’s Jubilee oil field.

“A preliminary report issued by the investigating team last month unearthed several instances of inappropriate executive override of internal control systems at PetroSA,” said a statement.

“The report also made serious allegations against certain senior officials.”

In a statement on Friday, PetroSA admitted some improprieties had occurred as it fought to clinch the deal in its plans to expand in the oil and gas business in West Africa, noting it was “competing for these opportunities against many established players”.

A report on officials implicated in the deal has been submitted to the ministry of energy affairs.

The country’s special investigations unit said last week it was also probing the deal.

Ghana’s Jubilee field, discovered in 2007 and one of the biggest finds in West Africa of the last decade, is believed to hold up to 1.8 billion barrels of reserves.