When state-owned fuel company, PetroSA, walked into the boardroom at its Parow head office, it was owed R227-million. By the time it walked out, it had agreed to a deal so toxic that it now faces the possibility of losing R1.4-billion instead – and potentially liquidation.
The meeting had been called in May 2025 to settle long-outstanding debts between PetroSA and a junior fuel trader, Nako Energy.
PetroSA owed Nako R605-million for a cargo of petrol it bought in June 2024, but had struggled to sell because it was tainted with a problematic chemical additive. Nako, in turn, owed PetroSA R832-million for a cargo of diesel it had bought and never paid for.
PetroSA should have had a R227-million upper hand,…