An Expensive Lesson In Governance

Runaway costs. Joint CEOs that have fallen on their swords. How does Sasol plan on moving past the Lake Charles Chemical Project debacle?

- David McKay

Oh for a gander at the separation agreements between Sasol and those members of its Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP) team found to have negligently mismanaged the venture.

No project team member was accused of criminal activity, and presumably they will move on to other posts, while the joint CEO structure that oversaw the corporate disaster – Bongani Nqwababa and Stephen Cornell – has been dismantled, with both executives leaving the group. It’s a step described by Sasol chairman, Mandla Gantsho, as an act of valiance.

Avoiding a train smash

According to Sasol chief financial officer, Paul Victor, they were installed in order to avoid the kind of train smash that eventually happened. Sasol had a “… big capital project far away from home”, he said in an interview, flanked by Sasol’s new CEO, Fleetwood Grobler.

“We needed to make sure US stakeholders were taken care of,” said Victor, who is clearly not responsible for the structure, but was nonetheless attempting to give it context.