The first tender<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In January last year, PetroSA issued three tenders: one was to restart the gas-to-liquids (GTL) refinery in Mossel Bay, which was eventually awarded to Gazprombank Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The other two tenders focused on PetroSA\u2019s offshore gas fields, which until 2020 provided the feedstock for the GTL refinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RFP 0003 was to appoint a technical partner who could restart the wells and drill new ones in the turbulent oceans off the Eastern Cape, while RFP 0004 was a funding only version of the same project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By mid-2023, PetroSA had selected preferred bidders for the two overlapping tenders: Theza Oil & Gas wanted to drill the wells using its own funders (RFP 0003), while Equator Holdings \u2013 Mulaudzi\u2019s company \u2013 wanted to fund the deal (RFP 0004), which PetroSA estimated could cost $1.2-billion (R21.6-billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is not clear how Equator qualified. The tender was explicit that any successful bidder \u201cmust be an established player, or credible financial institution\u201d to avoid being eliminated. Equator was neither.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company was registered in 2018, but has no website and no track record we could find in the financial sector or energy space; to the extent it operates, it appears to do so from Mulaudzi\u2019s Sandhurst home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, Equator had submitted a bid for RFP 0001, the tender that Gazprombank bid for and won, but it scored 0 out of 100 and was disqualified because the \u201c[a]uthenticity of entity could not be established\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another \u201celimination criteria\u201d of RFP 0004 was that bidders had to demonstrate \u201csufficient funding to support [the] proposal\u201d. This, the tender suggested, should be in the form of an \u201cindicative term sheet or letter, outlining at least success fee, interest rate, duration, maximum funding and any other material conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Equator had secured a letter of intent from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) suggesting it may be willing to invest up to R1-billion in the project \u2013 once it had evaluated the project and done a due diligence. But this is far more preliminary than the term sheet the tender required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A spokesperson for the IDC confirmed that \u201c[t]he IDC did not issue a term sheet to \u2026 Equator Holdings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfazed, PetroSA selected Equator as the preferred bidder to bankroll the R21.6-billion expansion of its upstream gas assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Evaluation Team evaluated the bids in accordance with the evaluation criteria that was published, and points were allocated accordingly. The Evaluation Team subsequently recommended Equator Holdings as the preferred partner,\u201d PetroSA told us in a written response that failed to answer questions about the seemingly glaring gaps in the Mulaudzi bid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Equator did not want to discuss specifics but told us: \u201cWe confirm that prior to the award, we submitted a detailed proposal to PetroSA, which we believe complied with all the set requirements. We also provided documents that were required in this bid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u2018arranged marriage\u2019<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Predictably, PetroSA now had a problem. Two bidders had been selected to fund the same projects: Theza, which would execute and fund the project, and Equator, which would only fund it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PetroSA\u2019s alleged solution was to play matchmaker between Theza and Equator: \u201c[PetroSA] said that they will, at the appropriate time, look at introducing the [other] party,\u201d Theza\u2019s chief executive and majority shareholder Barend Hendricks told us. \u201cThey said they would like for us to see if there are synergies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In October, with or without PetroSA\u2019s prompting, they formed EquaTheza: 90% owned by Theza and 10% owned by Equator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A source within Theza put it more bluntly: \u201cThey were foisted on us \u2026 They don\u2019t add any value to us as Theza.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n PetroSA denies this: \u201cPetroSA did not pressure Theza to partner with Equator. Theza and Equator Holdings decided to form Equatheza voluntarily on their own accord.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Equator\/Mulaudzi dispute the source\u2019s claims as well: \u201cAny other relationships that have been formed \u2026 have been done so independently and voluntarily without the assistance of PetroSA\u2026 Allegations by you of \u2018foisted\u2019 relationships with any company not only undermine us as an entity but they are an insult to those companies themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The agreement struck between the new business partners was that Equator would support Theza in its efforts to secure financing from local development finance institutions such as the PIC, IDC, and the Development Bank (DBSA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hendricks confirmed that Mulaudzi had set up a meeting with the IDC to discuss funding but said it went no further and that Theza had found funding elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite this, Equator remains a 10% shareholder in the deal. Asked what he knew about his new business partner, Hendricks said: \u201cZero. I did not even Google the man. Up to today I don\u2019t know who the shareholders of Equator are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Echoes of PIC manipulation<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u2018arranged marriage\u2019 between Theza and Equator bears a striking resemblance to the Tosaco deal funded by the PIC, which made Mulaudzi infamous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2015, Tosaco, the BEE partner of French energy company Total, was looking to sell its 25% stake. The PIC had been approached by two suitors: the Kilimanjaro consortium led by Mulaudzi and the Sakhumnotho consortium led by Sipho Mseleku.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Mpati Commission, which investigated malfeasance and corruption at the PIC, would later conclude that then-chief executive, Dr. Dan Matjila, had quietly engineered a union between the two consortia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDr Matjila \u2026 testified that he was thinking that the two (Mr Mseleku and Mr Mulaudzi) should combine forces even if he did not say so,\u201d the Mpati Commission report noted, adding: \u201c[I]t is incredulous that his thinking can manifest into reality by accident\u2026 Simply put, real decision making was effected outside of the PIC governance processes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Tosaco deal was a perfect example of where things were going wrong at the PIC: R1.7-billion was approved to buy the 25% stake in Total, then another R100-million was tacked on \u2013 without proper approval \u2013 to cover \u201ctransaction fees\u201d, including R80-million for Mulaudzi\u2019s own company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once the deal had been approved, Matjila is alleged to have pressured Mulaudzi to give bogus loans to a young entrepreneur who had befriended then minister of state security David Mahlobo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c[A]t no point did I regard this as a loan,\u201d Mulaudzi told the Mpati Commission. \u201cThis was based on the request made by Dr Matjila \u2026 there is no way I would have said no to the CEO of the PIC \u2026 as a businessman, you never wanted to be ostracised by Dr Matjila.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n AmaBhungane\u2019s own investigation uncovered that a front company, controlled by senior PIC executive Paul Magula, was given a R24-million stake in Mulaudzi\u2019s PIC-funded deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the time, Mulaudzi claimed that his company had been \u201csubjected to various offensive, unfounded allegations that intended to create a narrative that we as a company did not act ethically and properly in our dealings with the PIC\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In its recent letter, Equator cast Mulaudzi as a star witness: \u201cMr. Mulaudzi fully cooperated with the commission\u2026 We believe that throughout that process, Mr Mulaudzi was transparent, truthful and forthright with the commission. Hence this was even acknowledged by commissioners after his testimony.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It added that it \u201cwill not comment any further on matters that \u2026 are unrelated to the work that Equator Holdings is engaged in with PetroSA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This included the questions we posed about Mulaudzi\u2019s proximity to politicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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