Disgruntled Mossel Bay residents have appealed to the government and Parliament to intervene in an ongoing dispute with the management of the Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of SA.
Residents were meant to take to the streets in protest over a host of complaints they have levelled against the state-owned entity on Wednesday, but their proposed “total showdown” was marred by threats of rain.
Bongani Swartbooi, chairperson of the organisation Greater Mossel Bay Community Leadership, also alleged PetroSA had “manipulated” them.
“PetroSA manipulated some members of the same community to ensure the protest’s failure,” Swartbooi told Weekend Argus.
The organisation, together with the leadership of the Garden Route district municipality, sent a petition via email to PetroSA’s management, the Central Energy Fund, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, and the portfolio committee of mineral resources and energy last week.
One of its main concerns was the relocation of PetroSA’s head offices from Mossel Bay to Cape Town “without consultation with the host community”.
The organisation also alleged that unemployed women in the community had been forced to “sleep with the PetroSA managers” to get jobs.
“After approximately three decades of (PetroSA’s) existence, there are no locals in managerial positions, and no local businesses that have been developed,” said Swartbooi.
“The host community will claim damages from PetroSA, as they have severely harmed the local youth and women, as well as the host community at large.”
Last week, as many as 300 unemployed residents gathered at a community hall in Mossel Bay waiting for PetroSA management to meet them. However, the consultation did not go ahead, as the SOE’s representatives failed to arrive.
The chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee for mineral resources and energy, Sahlulele Luzipo, said he would only be able to comment on the matter once the committee had concluded its probe into the complaints levelled by the Mossel Bay community.
“We will deal with the issues on their merits,” Luzipo said.
“All the complaints in their letter will be dealt with once we have received an outcome. Currently there is no committee decision on any matter.”
PetroSA’s Noma Khosazana acknowledged having received the Weekend Argus query, but had not responded by the time of publication.
Weekend Argus