Johannesburg – bp Southern Africa (bpSA) has announced that its board chairperson, Advocate Thandi Orleyn, will be retiring at the end of June. Advocate Orleyn has chaired the board of bpSA for the past 14 years.
Under Advocate Orleyn’s leadership, bpSA strengthened its stakeholder relationships, including with the national government.
“When I joined in 2011, the industry was still getting to grips with the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act, which came into effect in 2004.
Over years, we, as bpSA, have developed our competency in relation to the Act,” she says.
“I have seen a lot of changes in the energy industry and in bpSA, but we have done well in this tough environment,” adds Advocate Orleyn.
“I believe I am leaving at the right time, after overseeing fundamental shifts in the company’s strategy and culture.”
Advocate Orleyn has always championed issues such as transformation, inclusion and ethical leadership.
She chaired the board when bpSA appointed the industry’s first black woman CEO, Priscillah Mabelane.
Mabelane was succeeded by the current CEO, Taelo Mojapelo, in 2020.
bpSA has made remarkable progress in advancing transformation of the business and the economy during these years.
This includes the divestment of various assets to black-owned businesses, such as the East London terminals to WASAA, a company owned by black women, and the development of black-owned suppliers in logistics, bunkering services and refrigeration.
The proportion of black-owned bp franchises has risen to 65% and bpSA has allocated funds to help black entrepreneurs access the financing they need to buy service stations or forecourt businesses.
In this period, bpSA has also halted its activities related to aviation fuel supply in South Africa and its interest in the SAPREF Refinery, to focus on an import-based business model.
“I am confident that bpSA has the right strategy in place to increase its competitiveness through its integrated supply import model, high-grading its portfolio and redefining convenience as it re-allocates capital to its highest-returning businesses,” Advocate Orleyn says.
“I wish the company every success as it charts its course through a new energy epoch.”
Advocate Orleyn, who is the first black woman in Gqeberha to qualify as a lawyer, read law at the University of Fort Hare and Unisa.
She served her articles at Attorneys Kondile & Somyalo in Gqeberha before joining the Legal Resources Centre. She later trained as a mediator and arbitrator, and in 1997 was appointed as National Director for the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.
Since 2006, she has been a director and shareholder of Peotona Group Holdings, an investment company she co-founded with three other women: Cheryl Carolus, Wendy Lucas-Bull and the late Dolly Mokgatle.
Over the years, she has served on the boards of various prominent South African companies and institutions, including the Industrial Development Corporation, De Beers, Toyota and Impala Platinum (which she continues to chair).
Advocate Orleyn will continue to pursue her involvement in the NGO sector through chairing the Legal Resources Centre.
In the interim, Martin Thomsen, SVP for mobility & convenience at bp, will assume the role of chairperson until a new appointment is made.
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