Chevron South Africa chairperson Shashi Rabbipal
Energy company Chevron South Africa has appointed Shashi Rabbipal as its new executive chairperson.
He would lead the company’s corporate governance team, steer the company’s continued progress on transformation and focus on establishing and maintaining relationships with key external stakeholder business partners.
Rabbipal, who holds a BA (Law) degree and a BProc degree from universities in South Africa, joined Chevron 25 years ago. He had accumulated extensive experience and knowledge within the industry through holding various general management roles, including as director of Chevron South Africa and a Chevron joint venture in Romania, as well as in sales and marketing for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Pakistan. He has also worked for Chevron in the UK.
Commenting on his appointment, Rabbipal said there was an opportunity for Chevron South Africa to work closely with various stakeholders towards key strategic priorities, particularly on transformation in the petroleum sector and on fuel security.
“A mutually beneficial and strategic partnership with key stakeholders is important to Chevron South Africa in delivering competitive results the right way. We recognise that the country needs a reliable and strong refining industry to ensure security of supply and be an enabler of economic transformation in the country.
“I believe our transformation agenda already reflects our commitment to government’s imperative on socioeconomic transformation and, more specifically, the creation of black industrialists,” he added.
To this end, Chevron South Africa had placed over 50% of its retail network in the hands of Caltex branded marketer entrepreneurs who, in turn, were obliged to further socioeconomic transformation.
Further, the company procured a significant volume of its crude oil and petroleum products through black-empowered traders. In nonhydrocarbon procurement, it spent about R5-billion a year with local suppliers, with 100% of spend committed to broad-based black-economic-empowerment-compliant companies, of which 66% was with black women-owned businesses.
In terms of ownership and employment equity, a consortium of black economic-empowerment shareholders and an employee trust held 25% of Chevron South Africa.
Four of the seven executive director seats at board level were also designated for black directors, of which two must be black women.
Rabbipal, further noted that Chevron South Africa made a significant contribution to the country’s economy.
“For every employment opportunity offered by Chevron South Africa and its first-tier suppliers, three additional jobs are sustained in the country. In all, over 100 000 jobs or about 1% of total employment in South Africa can be directly or indirectly traced back to the combined force of Chevron South Africa, its suppliers and its network of Caltex service stations.
“Additionally, Chevron South Africa’s tax contributions amount to R19-billion a year, which is an important contribution to the country,” he pointed out.