Transitioning SA's Petrochemical Value Chain

The first phase of Sasol Mining’s broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) strategy was the creation of Igoda Coal (Pty) Limited, a coal export venture with Eyesizwe Coal announced in March 2006. The second phase saw the Ixia Coal Black Economic Empowerment transaction, with WIPCoal Investments as the majority partner. This phase was initiated in 2010 to enable Sasol Mining to achieve compliance with the Mining Charter’s ownership requirements and develop women in mining.

Ixia Coal, a black-women controlled coal mining company, acquired 20% of Sasol Mining’s shares through the issue of new shares. Ixia Coal is a venture with Women Investment Portfolio Holdings Limited (WIPHOLD) and Mining Women Investments (Pty) Limited (Mining Women Investments), a newly established company comprising of approximately 5 000 rural and peri-urban black women who have not previously participated in BEE transactions. The women are drawn from the Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, where Sasol Mining has operations and coal reserves. Mining Women Investments was formed following a series of workshops with women in the three provinces. With the formation of Ixia Coal, Sasol Mining’s BEE ownership component increased to an estimated 26%.