Xolile Sizani is set to take up the hot seat as CEO of state-owned oil company PetroSA, with cabinet confirming his appointment on Thursday.
There have been acting CEOs at PetroSA for more than a year following former CEO Pragasen Naidoo’s departure midway into his contract in September 2022.
Sizani’s appointment also comes after Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe had to submit a new name to cabinet in November after his favoured candidate, PetroSA chair Nkululeko Poya, did not pass a security clearance test, according to News24. The site reported on Thursday evening that Poya has resigned from the PetroSA board in the wake of Sizani’s appointment announcement.
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PetroSA said in mid-February that Sandisiwe Ncemane, who has been acting CEO since October 2022, had been “released” to her former employer, the Central Energy Fund. The oil company added at the time that Ncemane would be replaced, in an acting capacity, by Sesakho Magadla.
Read: PetroSA readies new CEO as Gazprom deal nears
It is unclear when Sizani will officially start in the PetroSA top job.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Sizani is currently executive director at Nzuri Management Consultancy & Investment. He is also the former CEO of facilities management group Servest and, prior to that, served as CEO of medical scheme Medipos.
He describes himself on Linkedin as “a seasoned executive with a demonstrable experience of more than 20 years that spans across the petro-chemical, FMCG, gases, engineering, healthcare, pharmaceutical and facilities management industries”.
Sizani has a master’s in engineering from Stellenbosch University and a master’s in business leadership from the University of South Africa.
