In our last newsletter we reported on the outcome of the Oilgate court case and OUTA’s intervention on behalf of the public. The latest development is that the Central Energy Fund (CEF) is taking the case on appeal, trying to get a cheaper deal for buying back the strategic oil reserves. No date has been set for the appeal.  

A quick recap in case you missed this scandal: between December 2015 and January 2016 South Africa’s oil reserves of 10 million barrels were secretly sold at heavily discounted prices. The state-owned entities (SOEs) responsible were the CEF and its subsidiary the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF), with an executive director who was bribed and hid the deal.

In November last year, the Western Cape High Court ruled the sale illegal and ordered the oil returned and the CEF-SFF to refund certain buyers. OUTA intervened in the case, on behalf of the public.

In December 2020, the high court granted the CEF-SFF leave to appeal against part of the payments, including certain payments to companies implicated in the dishonest deal.

More information on the project here