Petro holds a BA degree and HDE diploma from the University of Pretoria as well as a B.Ed degree from North West University. Petro has more than 33 years of practical experience in project management, land use and infrastructure planning, local government affairs and economic development, organisation re-engineering and strategy formulation (locally and regionally), corporate governance, environmental management, education, mining and agriculture. She has extensive community consultation experience, working with local communities since 1992. Petro has been at the helm of the successful Jobs Fund and ABSA farmer development programmes over the past five years.