Sasol forks out R96m for its joint CEOs’ separation packages

JOHANNESBURG – Petrochemical giant Sasol paid its former joint presidents and chief executives Bongani Nqwababa and Stephen Cornell about R96 million in benefits and golden mutual separation packages, the company said in its annual report for the year ended June 2020.

The annual report, which was released late on Monday, said Cornell’s total remuneration was R68.65m and included a  R20.8m salary, R21.65m mutual golden handshake and R1.86m in long-term incentive compensation.

Nqwababa’s total pay package was R27.2m and included an R14.3m mutual separation package, a R8.7m salary and R1.9m in long-term incentive compensation.

Cornell and Nqwababa had agreed to an amicable mutual separation with the company and stepped down at the end of October last year following cost and project overruns at the Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP) in the US.

The cost of the LCCP investment ballooned to almost $13 billion (R221bn) from the original $8.9bn estimate, putting the group’s debt profile at risk.