Sasol names Muriel Dube as chair

Muriel Dube has been appointed chairperson of petrochemicals group Sasol with effect from September 13.

“The Sasol board is pleased to pass the reins of chairman to someone of Muriel’s calibre and is confident she will provide the necessary direction and leadership as the company intensifies its focus on progressing a sustainable future business,” the group said.

Dube joined the Sasol board as an independent non-executive director in 2018, Sasol said in a statement on Monday.

She holds an MSc degree in environmental change and management from Oxford University, a BA in human sciences and a BA honours in politics. She has an extensive background in sustainability, commercial, finance and leadership roles.

She previously served as the chief negotiator for the SA government in climate change negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and as director of Atmospheric Protection and Chemicals Management at the department of environmental affairs and tourism.

Subsequently, she was the group commercial director at Bidvest Group, an investment banker at Investec and CEO of Nozala Investments.

She is also a non-executive director at the UK Infrastructure Bank. Her past non-executive director roles include Control Risks UK, Apogee Sustainability, Vodacom SA, Bidvest Group, PG Group, Bravo Brands, Fluormin and Enviroserv.

Dube’s appointment comes as Sasol has committed to reduce greenhouse gases by 30% by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050.

In April GroundUp reported that Sasol is on the list of 57 big companies that produced 80% of the world’s CO₂ emissions from 2016 to 2022, according to a new report from the Carbon Majors database earlier in April.

Sasol is ranked 56th. Carbon Majors is a database of historic production data from 122 of the world’s largest oil, gas, coal and cement producers.

Sasol’s total emissions increased slightly in 2023 from 2022 to more than 64,000 kilotonnes of CO₂, according to its 2023 Climate Change report.

Sasol said in the report that the increase in total emissions was due to “higher production rates, as well as process inefficiencies, external power interruptions and shortage of natural gas”. The company said that in 2024, production levels were expected to increase, resulting in further increased emissions at its Secunda operations, GroundUp reported.

Sasol also announced the appointment of Martina Flöel as lead independent director with effect from September 13.

In other board changes, David Eyton, an independent non-executive director, has been named chairperson of the safety, social and ethics committee and a member of the audit, and nomination and governance committees.

Katherine Harper, an independent non-executive director, has been appointed as a member of the remuneration committee.

mackenziej@arena.africa