Cosatu has called on the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) to ensure greater openness in disclosing investment data. The organization insists that all relevant information about PIC's public and private assets must be publicly accessible. According to the PIC Act, this information should be posted on the corporation's official website and included in annual reports.
According to Cosatu's parliamentary group coordinator, Matthew Parks, providing this information to the public will help guarantee that all PIC investments comply with its investment mandate and can be subject to public scrutiny. Parks expressed deep concern regarding a whistleblower's report containing allegations against the suspended PIC CEO, Patrick Dlamini, concerning investments in the airports of Lanseria and Acapulco.
Parks emphasized that any allegation of misconduct or mismanagement must undergo an independent, transparent, and impartial investigation. He also stated that no individual should be considered guilty until the relevant procedures are completed.
An online search conducted by the publication Business Report revealed only a limited representation of investment returns in the annual report, without disclosing what these specific investments were, beyond a general description of asset classes, such as 'listed equities.' Additional information on returns or the assets themselves was absent from the PIC website. Furthermore, the available annual report lacked details on significant portfolio changes, and the report itself pertained to the 2024/25 financial year, which was over a year old.
Matthew Parks was reacting to last week's shocking announcement of Dlamini's temporary suspension due to allegations related to PIC's investment in the Lanseria airport, which occurred more than ten years ago. The day after this announcement, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) announced the start of an investigation into alleged management failures at PIC. It was found that the FSCA had previously attempted to investigate management issues at PIC, but its efforts had been ignored.
PIC Chairman David Masondo stated in a communication to staff last week that the board was unaware that the FSCA had previously requested documentation from PIC management relating to the whistleblower case, which contained allegations against CEO Patrick Dlamini. Masondo noted that, in his view, there had been a 'misunderstanding and misinterpretation' between PIC management and the FSCA. He added that 'early requests were not brought to the attention of either the board or its chairman.'
Masondo clarified that as soon as he learned of the situation through subsequent correspondence from the Authority, the chairman reacted immediately, provided the requested documents, and promised the board's full cooperation with the investigation. He also addressed questions regarding PIC's private investments, which have attracted 'significant public attention.'
He explained that many transactions examined by the Mphati Commission originated from outdated investments made before the current management took office. PIC currently holds investments in 150 private companies, of which 39 legacy investments are undergoing restructuring or turnaround management processes. Although private investments constitute a relatively small portion of PIC's portfolio, they are significant in Rand terms. The entire private portfolio accounts for 4.5% of PIC's assets under management, with investments in crisis and turnaround making up only 1.7% of the private portfolio and less than 0.1% of PIC's total investments.
Despite these challenges, PIC has managed to recover 10 billion Rands from its debt portfolio of 19 billion Rands and is pursuing litigation to recover the remaining 9.3 billion Rands. Masondo also reported that the private portfolio continued to generate value, increasing by 3.6% during the financial year ending 2026, and the 2022 Private Investment Mandate provided an internal rate of return of 16%, exceeding the benchmark. Masondo described this as a 'positive trajectory.' Further confirmation of this was the decision by GEPF (Government Employees Pension Fund), PIC's largest client, on July 6, 2026, to lift the previous moratorium on direct investments in the real estate portfolio.
Parks stated that calls and attempts by various politicians in Parliament and government to dissolve the PIC board were premature and could lead to the deliberate derailment of investigations into the Acapulco and Lanseria airport investments. He welcomed the transfer of the Acapulco investments to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and strongly urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to promptly issue a proclamation tasking the SIU, with support from Hawks and the Auditor-General, to conduct a comprehensive investigation into all PIC investments. Parks believes this is the key to eradicating the 'cancer of corruption and state capture' within PIC.
