The commission of inquiry probing governance and investment at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), has heard that 50% of PIC Executive Committee staff are either suspended or have resigned.
These include the executive heads of Risk, Legal, Listed Investments, IT, the CEO and the Company Secretary.
Executive Head of Listed Investments Fidelis Madavo says the PIC Board suspended him with immediate effect.
He says the suspension letter states that he was being suspended because he headed the department that signed off on the controversial investment in Ayo Technology Solutions.
The PIC invested R4.3 billion in Iqbal Surve’s company when it was listed on the JSE in December 2017, despite concerns the company was overvalued. Ayo’s share price fell by 50% since the listing.
Madavo further says Ayo Technology was first introduced through the office of the former CEO, Dan Matjila, who resigned in November last year amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
“So the Ayo transaction came through the CEO’s office who would typically contact the team and say there’s this opportunity. I then asked to set up the meeting with the company, and that’s how it started. The team would then obviously set up the investment report and so on,” says Madavo.
The PIC also did not support the dual listing of embattled retailer Steinhoff. Last year, the PIC had to write-off over R4 billion of its investment in Steinhoff’s empowerment holding shareholder, Lancaster says Madavo.
Meanwhile, Head of HR at the PIC Chris Pholwane said he was called into a meeting by the board and instructed to serve Madavo and another member of his department with formal suspension letters.
The Head of Internal Audit at the PIC Lufuno Nemagovhani is expected to give testimony when the inquiry resumes again in Pretoria on Wednesday morning.
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