Johannesburg - Sasol's new chief executive, Pat Davies, will shortly appoint a number of top black executives in a sign the petrochemicals group intends to accelerate transformation and mend its fractious relationship with the government.
In an interview with Business Report, Davies acknowledged the government's frustration with the company, and conceded that Sasol tended to be "somewhat of a cautious organisation" that needed to step up the pace of transformation.
His predecessor, Pieter Cox, had left a sound business strategy in place. "We won't tamper with a success formula. However, safety, transformation and our relationships with the government are imperatives that need attention," he said.
Davies moved into Cox's Rosebank office this month, following strong criticism by the government of the Sasol board's decision to put a white man in charge of South Africa's largest domiciled company, and to appoint as his deputy another white man, Trevor Munday.
Much of Davies' first week in office was spent outlining Sasol's vision for transformation with government officials.
"I indicated to them that the area in which we probably need to put the foot on the accelerator most of all is in the appointment of top black executives to the organisation," he said.
Sasol was searching for candidates within and outside the group, and announcements would be made in the near future.
Davies said black economic empowerment at the equity level was another priority. Leading the way was a proposed multibillion-rand deal merging Sasol's liquid fuels business with Engen, in which 25 percent of the combined entity, Uhambo Oil, would accrue to empowerment groups.
The deal has been conditionally approved by the competition commission and will be heard by the competition tribunal later this year.
Sasol's empowerment partner is Tshwarisano, which is led by former minerals and energy minister Penuell Maduna.
Davies said that the group had been involved in developing an empowerment charter for the chemical industry, although this had been superceded by the trade and industry department's draft codes of good practice.
Sasol would also ensure that it was compliant with the mining charter, and had already identified its preferred partner as Eyesizwe.
Turning to workplace safety, Davies said he was "personally committed" to improving behavioural aspects of safety following a spate of accidents that killed 16 Sasol employees and contractors in the past year.
"I am deeply distressed and regret the loss of life and the suffering we have caused. This is something we will fix."
A change in safety culture at Sasol was visible following implementation of a safety improvement plan, although it would be naive to believe this had become firmly rooted throughout the company.
Davies said the main drivers of Sasol's growth would be its gas-to-liquid (GTL) activities, chemical businesses built around the GTL hubs, and oil and gas businesses that would feed into the GTL facilities.
Within 10 years, Sasol's revenue mix would be about 70 percent energy, including mining, and 30 percent chemicals. GTL activities would comprise between 15 percent and 20 percent of the total, he said.
Sasol shares rose 1.55 percent to R196.94 on Friday, while the FTSE/ JSE Top40 index rose 1.16 percent.