The High Court in the Western Cape has dismissed an urgent application by two former PetroSA board members to have their dismissals set aside and for them to be reinstated. The application was brought by William Steenkamp and Owen Tobias, who were removed on July 5 by the Central Energy Fund, PetroSA’s holding company. In his affidavit to the court, Steenkamp painted a rather bleak picture of a long-running power struggle between PetroSA and the CEF. He accused the CEF’s former and current board of attempting to usurp the powers and functions of PetroSA, and take over its capital expenditure and procurement processes. This follows the resignation of the majority of the PetroSA board in June amid deep financial woes. Judge Lee Bozalek, in his judgment on Friday, said Steenkamp and Tobias had failed to establish that the "impugned decision" was one that a reasonable decision maker could not have reached, particularly in light of the "very substantial financial difficulties" PetroSA fo...
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