The Public Investment Corporation is dogged by the resignation of board members and the suspension of senior officials.
Image: IOL / File
Labour federations have identified the stabilisation of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and the instituting of investigations into the affairs of the institution as a priority.
This comes after the wave of suspensions of senior officials and resignations by board members against the backdrop of calls by some commentators for the discontinuation of the practice of appointing a finance deputy minister as chairperson of the board.
The DA announced earlier this week a Pension Protection Bill that seeks to implement long-overdue reforms by ensuring that the PIC board chairperson is independent rather than a serving politician and that appointments be made on merit.
This week, the PIC experienced resignations by Finance Deputy Minister David Masondo and five other board members ahead of the Monday meeting scheduled by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to dissolve the board in the wake of the suspension of CEO Patrick Dlamini and Acting Chief Investment Officer August van Heerden.
Cosatu parliamentary coordinator Matthew Parks said the first step right now was the stabilisation of the PIC.
“They need to appoint a new board quickly. That will include a chair. That’s the first thing, and we will expect the government to respond to comply with the PIC Act, which allows workers through the Public Service and Bargaining Council to select three representatives of workers,” Parks said on Saturday.
He also said the next step was to continue the investigations into corruption, including the investigations around Acapulco investments, the CEO, and other related matters at the PIC, so that those found to have committed an offence are dealt with.
“We would also want to see the president (Cyril Ramaphosa) task the Special Investigating Unit, the Hawks, and the Auditor-General to actually investigate all PIC investments to clear the air; otherwise, it (PIC) will forever be surrounded by allegations of corruption, state capture, and so forth,” he said.
South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said the current crisis at PIC reinforced the urgent need to strengthen governance within institutions entrusted with managing public wealth.
“Whether or not criminal corruption is ultimately established, governance failures, undisclosed conflicts of interest, weak oversight, and political interference can inflict enormous financial damage and erode public confidence in institutions responsible for safeguarding workers’ pensions,” Vavi said.
He also said Saftu was calling for the immediate preservation of all documents, emails, electronic records, board minutes, recordings, and any other evidence relevant to the matters under investigation.
Saftu also called for the continuation of all ongoing investigations and “a genuinely independent investigation conducted by persons with no actual or perceived conflict of interest”.
It added that there should be full protection for whistle-blowers and an urgent public hearing by Parliament.
Vavi said there should be publication of the findings once investigations have been completed, and immediate referral to the appropriate law enforcement agencies should evidence emerge of corruption, fraud, theft, abuse of fiduciary duty, or any criminal conduct.
Both federations noted the need for reforms at the PIC, with Parks saying there has been a lot of discussion on the matter.
“Amending the legislation would take a little bit of time. The critical thing is to help drive the current or the last amendments to the Act, which are quite critical,” he said.
“We would want to see further amendments that protect and retain those provisions, which include worker representation on the PIC board, clear criteria for the board itself, investment guidelines for PIC, which should be disclosed publicly, whether they’re listed or unlisted,” Parks said.
He also stated that there should be checks and balances and what a minister can and cannot do, as well as the merits and demerits of who should chair the board.
“We should be moving forward and see how you further strengthen governance, how to further protect the institution from corruption, and how to further strengthen transparency and so forth. But I think right now is about stabilising it, having a new board, continuing investigations, actually expanding investigations, and then, yes, you can have discussions around what needs to be tweaked in the Act itself.”
Vavi said a number of recommendations were made to strengthen governance, transparency, accountability, and oversight within the PIC made by the Mpati Commission.
“South Africans are entitled to know whether those recommendations were fully implemented and, if not, why another governance crisis of this magnitude has emerged. This question must be answered regardless of who is ultimately found to have acted improperly,” he said, adding that a public report on the implementation of the recommendations of the Mpati Commission should be made available.
mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za