PetroSA cites Nako’s R833m debt in liquidation case — Daily Maverick
In South Africa, state-owned oil company PetroSA is opposing Nako Energy’s application for its liquidation, citing a substantially larger counter-debt owed by its former partner. Nako is demanding R606 million from PetroSA for a batch of unleaded petrol delivered to Mossel Bay in June 2024. PetroSA acting chief executive Nombulelo Tyandela told the court that Nako has an acknowledged debt of R833 million to PetroSA for diesel purchased in Durban.
As Daily Maverick reports, Tyandela is asking the court to take the parties’ mutual obligations into account. According to PetroSA’s position, after offsetting the two debts, Nako would have to pay the company about R227 million. PetroSA also claims that Nako’s liquidation application is a means of pressure to recover R606 million.
Acknowledgement of debt
On 19 May 2025, the parties signed documents acknowledging the debts. Under them, PetroSA agreed to pay Nako R606 million, while Nako agreed to pay PetroSA R833 million. The documents provided for agreement on a payment plan by 31 May 2025, but according to both companies, this plan was never signed.
PetroSA stated that if its debt to Nako became payable without an agreed plan, then Nako’s debt to PetroSA should similarly be considered payable. If payments depended on concluding a plan, there are no grounds for PetroSA’s liquidation, Tyandela believes.
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Dispute over fuel quality
PetroSA’s debt to Nako is linked to a 2023 contract to supply petrol to filling stations in the Garden Route region. According to case materials, Nako’s fuel contained N-methylaniline, or NMA, a chemical additive prohibited in a number of countries. After drivers complained of stains on vehicle paintwork, Total, Caltex, Shell and Engen refused to buy this fuel from PetroSA.
In court documents, Tyandela said PetroSA had difficulties selling the petrol because of complaints about its quality and lost part of the market in the Garden Route. As the publication notes, fuel tests found high levels of NMA and, in some samples, elevated resin levels that may damage car engines.
PetroSA also told parliament that it had avoided another liquidation application after settling an R796 million debt to trader Gunvor. An internal document cited by the publication also indicates a debt of R747 million to Addax Energy, while the debt to the SARS tax service stands at R5.1 billion.
