…after paying M100 million of the M131 million petroleum levy owed
Mathatisi Sebusi
FUEL company Tholo Energy has settled M100 million of the M131 million it owed the Petroleum Fund in petroleum levies — leaving an outstanding balance of M31 million which remains unpaid despite numerous interventions by the Fund’s Board of Directors.
This is according to Auditor-General, Mathabo Mokenete’s audit report on the annual financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2025.
“Without qualifying my opinion, I draw your attention to the long overdue debts of levies and slate settlements by Tholo Energy amounting to M31,029,912 that might result in litigation and adversely impact the Fund’s cash flow due to non-compliance.
“This is despite numerous efforts by the Board of Directors and Management to address the matter, and this needs collaborative efforts by all stakeholders affected,” the report states.
The Petroleum Fund is mandated to manage and distribute petroleum resources in order to ensure supply security, support economic growth and create employment opportunities. Its mandate focuses on financing petroleum-related projects, ensuring a reliable supply of petroleum products, regulating fuel prices in the country, and improving the distribution network to make petroleum products more accessible to all citizens.
In July this year, Natural Resources Minister, Mohlomi Moleko, informed the Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Natural Resources that his ministry, working with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, had resolved not to renew Tholo Energy’s trading licence until the full M131 million debt was paid.
He told the committee that the arrears in petroleum levies dated back to 2019.
However, speaking to the Sunday Express on Friday, Mr Moleko said that following the committee meeting, the ministry engaged Tholo Energy to negotiate a repayment plan, after which the company’s trading licence was renewed.
“We sat down and worked on a payment plan. We therefore renewed their licence because not doing so would have resulted in a lot of people losing jobs,” Mr Moleko said.