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Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene has instructed the Public Investment Corporation board to commission a forensic investigation into allegations against certain executives and to institute an independent inquiry into the affairs of the corporation, which is one of the continent’s largest asset managers.
Nene gave the instruction following a meeting with the board of directors of the PIC on Wednesday.
“The next steps in dealing with the governance issues at the state-owned fund manager and the allegations against certain PIC executives will be as follows; the institution of an independent inquiry into the affairs of the PIC and the board of the PIC will commission a proper forensic investigation into the allegations against certain PIC executives,” said Nene.
The minister said details on the independent inquiry, including the name of its head as well as its terms of reference, would be announced in due course.
On Monday Nene promised that he would be announcing “decisive” steps to “restoring public trust” in the PIC.
READ MORE: Nene to announce 'decisive' steps to 'restore public trust' in PIC.
Nene assured South Africans that the measures “would ultimately strengthen the PIC’s governance and restore public trust in this important public institution”.
The PIC, which oversees R1.9 trillion in funds on behalf of a number of government entities, has been plagued by allegations of corruption and maladministration.
Corruption cases that have surfaced include those against its chief executive Daniel Matjila for allegedly influencing the PIC to fund a company that benefited his alleged lover, Pretty Louw.
A second allegation emerged over an alleged sum of R300 000 paid to Louw by Ascendis, which is represented by businessman Lawrence Mulaudzi.
This payment was supposedly made under Matjila’s instruction.
In addition to this, a former executive at the PIC is also being accused of irregularly manipulating employee bonuses in order to retain R44 million.
The state-owned fund manager made more headlines this weekend when City Press reported that two of its executives, Paul Magula and Ernest Nesane, allegedly received monthly payments from Vele Investments for more than a year, amounting to around R5 million each.
The payments allegedly occurred while the two were PIC’s non-executive representatives on the board of VBS Mutual Bank, which Vele Investment was allegedly busy looting into the ground at the time.
Nene who has been accused by “some in our society” for taken a long time to deal with PIC matters said there needed to be transparency and accountability in dealing with state-owned entities and a balance needed to be struck between following due process and ensuring that proper governance was being observed.
