Justice hot on the spoor of alleged PIC crooks

Those fingered for wrongdoing by the Commission of Inquiry into Impropriety at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), chaired by retired judge Lex Mpati, could soon be visited by investigators.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has handed the PIC commission report to President Cyril Ramaphosa, and NPA spokeswoman Bulelwa Makeke said it is to be handed over to the SA Police Service, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) or the NPA’s Investigative Directorate for criminal investigation.

Makeke said once investigators had finished their probes, they would give the dockets to the NPA for a decision on whether to prosecute.

The president asked for the commission’s recommendations to be implemented.

“The criminal justice system should urgently act, including forensic investigation and possible prosecutions,” said Ramaphosa.

“Civil cases will have to be instituted as well, where relevant.

“The NPA has been working with the commission to determine any matters that may be investigated further.”

In a statement, Ramaphosa said it was worrying that the inquiry had highlighted that the PIC had not shown the urgency to salvage whatever money it could recover.

“The PIC must recover all the monies utilised in irregular transactions or unlawfully paid out. The National Treasury will be tracking developments in this regard,” he said.

Where relevant, the PIC and Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) should jointly investigate whether monies were paid and properly accounted for, and whether any should be recovered.

The commission recommends this be done within six months of the report’s publication.

“The commission recommends that certain steps be taken at the GEPF to secure its own position, such as a review of the role, relationships, nature and frequency of meetings between the GEPF and PIC, and ensuring appropriate interaction at the required level actually takes place.”

Democratic Alliance MP and member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts Alf Lees said: “The report has exposed the false claims by Sekunjalo [Investment Group] that they had been cleared by the Mpati commission. Both Iqbal Surve and Dan Matjila must be held accountable for their alleged wrongdoing.”

United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa said the report should be a lesson to “greedy hyenas” that corruption will not be tolerated and that they will not get away with it.

“At this stage, we hope that the NPA, and other authorities, will run with the ball and bring any and all guilty parties to book.”

PIC’s ex-CEO lambasted

The Commission of Inquiry into Impropriety at the PIC (Public Investment Corporation), chaired by retired judge Lex Mpati, made scathing findings against former PIC chief executive Dan Matjila and several others involved in questionable investment transactions.

The commission accused Matjila of a host of transgressions, including his consistent failure to take accountability for material errors and failures under his management.

It highlighted Matjila’s “complete disregard for transparency”, said proper governance was absent or poor and risk identification processes were downplayed.

It found the PIC senior management had failed to manage decision-making in a professional and honest manner and found Matjila was dishonest.

It found the PIC board rubber-stamped his decisions and the PIC had failed to make sound investment decisions.

Also, the “close relationship” between Matjila and Sekunjalo’s Iqbal Surve created top-down pressures to get the requisite approvals.

The report found Independent News and Media South Africa was not repaying a loan to the PIC and that Matjila had shown “complete disregard of the PIC’s investment processes”.

This included his signing of an agreement allowing the PIC to swap its debt and shares in Independent for a stake in Sagarmatha, another of Surve’s firms, in December 2017.

It found PIC executives Ernest Nesane and Paul Magula had “egregiously violated their fiduciary duties” by serving on the now-liquidated VBS Mutual Bank board and received R16.7 million and R14.8 million respectively from the bank.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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