Fay Cranmer
Director of Functional Excellence
Sasol
Tel: +27 11 441 3111
www.sasol.com
Fay Cranmer is the director of functional excellence at the Sasol Group where she is tasked with realigning all support functions across Sasol with the group’s strategic intent. Previously, Cranmer was the managing director of the Upstream Oil and Gas business unit, Sasol Petroleum International. With 19 years’ experience in the global energy sector, she has been involved in a number of significant projects for companies in the electricity, water, coal and downstream oil and gas industries.
She joined Sasol in July 2005 and was appointed to her current post in April 2008. Before joining Sasol, Cranmer held senior positions at Arthur Andersen Business Consulting and Accenture. She decided to move into consulting from the international oil and gas industry, having spent eight years specialising on all aspects of exploration and production. Her work has necessitated liaison and consultation with company boards, executive management, funding organisations, senior government officials and politicians, and joint venture partners. She has a BSc (Hons) from the University of Durban and an MSc in sedimentology from the University of London.
Kate Farina
Manager: Business Governance
Sasol Oil
Tel: +27 11 441 3111
www.sasol.com
Kate Farina is a general manager at Sasol Oil, responsible for the legal and compliance, procurement and risk forensics and ethics departments. She previously specialised in environmental law. Farina joined Sasol in 1998 as the senior in-house counsel in Sasol’s corporate safety, health and environmental division and was instrumental in the growth of this team as a strategic governance function within Sasol.
Her philosophy in managing what are traditionally known as support functions in a business is to instill a business partnering work ethic, which ensures that both the business and support departments are aligned in the objective of the business and work hand-in-hand towards common goals.
She says she derives “enormous satisfaction” from mentoring and coaching others, and strives to create a work environment in which people feel motivated and uplifted. Farina holds a BSc (zoology and botany) degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a LLB and LLM from the University of the Witwatersrand, in addition to other various management and leadership courses.
Sindi Ngaba
Company Secretary
PetroSA
Tel: +27 21 929 3240
www.petrosa.co.za
Sindi Ngaba was appointed PetroSA company secretary in November 2002. Before her appointment she had held legal advisory positions at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the National Ports Authority. An admitted advocate of the High Court, she was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in 1987 to study for a LLM degree at Georgetown University, Washington DC.
She also holds a Management Development Programme diploma from the University of the Witwatersrand. In her role, Ngaba ensures that PetroSA complies with and adheres to legislation relevant to the energy industry. This includes adherence to strict environmental laws. In her challenging role Ngaba also liaises with the PetroSA board of directors and ensures it is aware of its legal responsibilities. PetroSA is South Africa’s national oil and gas corporation.
The company operates and owns the world’s largest gas-to-liquids (GTL) refinery at Mossel Bay. GTL technology is recognised by energy industry experts for its ability to produce fuels that are regarded as the cleanest in the world.
Christine Ramon
Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director
Sasol Limited
Tel: +27 11 441 3435
www.sasol.com
Christine Ramon joined Sasol Limited as chief financial officer in May 2006. She had been chief executive of listed hotels and gaming group, Johnnic Holdings, having joined the group in 1995 and having held several senior positions, including acting chief operating officer and financial director.
Prior to joining Johnnic, Ramon worked at Coopers & Lybrand in South Africa and Italy. Upon her return to South Africa in 1994 she was seconded as deputy finance director to the IEC. A qualified chartered accountant (SA), Ramon is also a Senior Executive Programme graduate from Harvard Business School in conjunction with Wits Business School. She serves on the Sasol board as an executive director, simultaneously serving as a director of various other Sasol subsidiaries. Ramon also serves as a non-executive director on the board of Transnet.
In 2005 she was awarded a Golden Peacock Achiever Award by the Indian Academy of South Africa for Leadership Skills and Academic Achievements. In January 2007 Ramon was nominated by the World Ecnomic Forum as a Young Global Leader, a programme which recognises the top 250 young leaders from around the world.
Nompumelelo Siswana
Vice-President: Trading Supply & Logistics
PetroSA
Tel: +27 21 929 3240
www.petrosa.co.za
Dr Nompumelelo Siswana is the vice-president of PetroSA’s Trading, Supply and Logistics Division, responsible for the marketing and sale of the company’s products. With offices in Africa, Europe and the United States, PetroSA exports petrochemical products to markets all over the world. Siswana joined PetroSA in 2002 as general manager, corporate planning, strategy and new ventures.
She had previously worked for BP Southern Africa, Engen Petroleum and the department of minerals and energy. Through a span of more than a decade in the oil industry, she has assumed various roles in areas such as refinery optimisation, production planning, performance management in logistics, as a business analyst and in corporate planning, strategy and new ventures. Siswana was awarded her doctorate by the School of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry, University of New South Wales in Sydney, and obtained her MSc from the University of Wollongong, also in Australia. Prior to her studies in Australia she taught science in Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
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