Sasol Integrated Report 2023 - Book - Page 21
INTRODUCTION
ABOUT SASOL
STRATEGIC OVERVIEW
CREATING VALUE
PERFORMANCE
GOVERNANCE AND REWARDS
ADMINISTRATION
CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT CONTINUED
In this environment, Sasol faced several operational
challenges related to poor coal quality from our
mines and the operational underperformance of our
facilities. These contributed to lower overall
production, which impacted profitability for the year.
Plans are in place to address these challenges.
Our immediate priority in 2023 was therefore to
reset our foundation and build a resilient company.
We continued to do this by delivering on the Sasol 2.0
transformation programme, which will enable us to
transition and ultimately reinvent the organisation to
decarbonise and achieve our net zero ambition
by 2050.
Ethical and effective leadership
In circumstances where we constantly observe a
continued decline in ethical and moral leadership
worldwide, the Board has remained committed to
fostering an ethical and higher purpose focus within
the Sasol Group. We commissioned an independent
ethics assessment, the results of which will show
the maturity of our ethics programme, as well as
identify opportunities for improvement.
IR
For more detail on ethics refer to page 22
We strengthened our Board capabilities by
appointing Andreas Schierenbeck as an Independent
non-Executive Director effective 1 January 2023.
We are confident that Andreas’s appointment
will bolster our decarbonisation efforts, and that
Sasol will benefit from his experience of the green
hydrogen value chain in particular.
The Board also oversaw changes to the Group
Executive Committee, with Hanré Rossouw assuming
the role of Executive Director and Chief Financial
Officer on 1 July 2022 and Marius Brand retiring on
30 June 2023 as Executive Vice President for Sasol 2.0
Transformation programme. We thank Marius for
his contribution to Sasol over many years and wish
him well.
Delivering to society
At Sasol, we have always recognised the critical role, of
social capital in our success, therefore we value our
partnerships with customers, suppliers, business and
research peers as well as our relationships with
communities, governments, regulators and civil society.
In the year under review, we committed
R857,3 million in social investment, compared
with R743,3 million in 2022. Recognising that our
During the year, the Board provided an active oversight role
in supporting management in ensuring:
the safety of our people;
transforming our business for resilience;
managing our impact on the planet; and
strengthening relationships with stakeholders
and regulators.
strength lies in our diversity; we made good progress
towards our diversity and inclusion targets and
maintained our level 3 B-BBEE contributor status.
We acknowledge the importance of maintaining our
strong and established brand, which underpins our
reputation. In contributing to Sasol becoming an
investment priority, not just for our shareholders
but also for our broader stakeholder community,
we undertook a stakeholder perception survey.
While we maintain a solid reputation of performance
across most stakeholder groups, there are areas
that require improvement. These learnings will
become focus areas for the next year and beyond.
Appreciation and outlook
As we look ahead to Sasol’s new financial year,
there is no doubt that the world and South Africa
face significant headwinds. Now is the time for us all
to collaborate: to roll up our sleeves, deliver on our
plans and contribute meaningfully. We will achieve
our commitments with the right people and by
leveraging partnerships.
We are confident that we are on the correct path
and are encouraged by the endorsement of our
shareholders at our December 2022 Annual General
Meeting of our climate change management
approach.
I would like to acknowledge Sasol people everywhere
for their determination and hard work to overcome
the challenges of the past year. I would like to thank
them for their diligence in ensuring that we deliver
on our commitments ahead.
Sipho Nkosi
Chairman
31 August 2023
SASOL INTEGRATED REPORT 2023
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