Sasol cancels shareholder meeting as activists storm stage

Sasol has been forced to cancel its annual general meeting after protesters stormed the stage from which Chief Executive Officer Fleetwood Grobler was trying to address shareholders.

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Holding signs reading “Coal Kills” and other banners, about a dozen environmental activists took the stage at the company’s Johannesburg headquarters as executives remained seated behind them. The protesters criticised the company’s climate record, chanting “shame on Sasol.”

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The demonstration comes as some investors said that they will reject Sasol’s climate resolution at Friday’s annual general meeting. Old Mutual Investment Managers said it won’t support several Sasol resolutions, citing what it characterised as the company’s poor performance on climate targets. Ninety One has also said it plans to vote against Sasol’s climate report.

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Sasol is South Africa’s second-largest producer of greenhouse gases, largely due to its emissions-rich process to make fuel and chemicals from coal.

Read: Sasol slammed by SA’s pollution regulator over lack of investment

Minutes before being interrupted by protesters, Grobler said “Sasol remains unequivocally committed” to lowering its emissions and that the company was actively looking for solutions. “There’s no silver bullet to climate change,” he said.

Sasol Chairman Stephen Westwell didn’t give a new date for the AGM.

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