PIC extends CFO’s suspension in light of Mpati Commission report

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) announced on Friday that the board has decided to extend the suspension of its chief financial officer (CFO), Matshepo More.

The commission said the decision comes after it received a report of the disciplinary hearing into More which was chaired by advocate Kennedy Tsatsawane SC.

It said the CFO was placed on paid suspension pending the outcome of the disciplinary inquiry.

“She was charged for signing the settlement memo before the portfolio management committee (PMC) could approve the AYO transaction and for failing to serve the interests of the PIC by not disclosing to the committee that the settlement memo for the transaction had already been signed,” the PIC said in a statement.

PIC said Advocate Tsatsawane’s report found that More was not guilty of both charges.

“In the light of the Mpati Commission of Inquiry, whose findings have been welcomed and accepted by the PIC, the board has resolved that it would be ill-advised to reinstate More into her position as CFO as she is one of the parties that have been implicated in the Mpati Commission report.

“Consequently, the board has decided to extend More’s suspension pending the implementation and finalisation of the Mpati Commission recommendations. More will remain on suspension with full pay until all the recommendations of the Mpati Commission have been finalised,” it added.

The commission said the board appointed Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, a retired judge of the Constitutional Court, to lead a panel of experts to give advice and guidance on the legal steps and disciplinary processes that must be followed to implement the findings of the Mpati Commission report.

The chairman of the PIC board Dr Reuel Khoza said: “A progress report will be provided in this regard as the Mpati Commission recommendations are implemented. The Board is committed to doing everything in its power to ensure that a new culture that is based on ethics and values of good governance is entrenched in the PIC.”

(Compiled by Molefe Seeletsa)

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