Former Public Investment Corporation CEO Dan Matjila portrayed himself as a victim on 9 July, telling a commission of inquiry into governance issues at South Africa’s biggest fund manager that he was pressurised by prominent business figures and politicians to release investment funds to their entities as early as 2005.
The brainchild behind Matjila’s secondment was Brian Molefe, who was then the PIC’s secretary of commissioners and who later became CEO in 2005. Matjila fulfilled his secondment role between 2003 and 2004 and was later appointed as the PIC’s CIO in 2005, a powerful role that would allow him to oversee major investment decisions.
Matjila didn’t name politicians and influential business figures as his testimony is still in the early stages. His testimony will continue until 11 July. The Ayo deal was controversial due to the high valuation it commanded when it listed in 2017 on the JSE, which saw the PIC take a 29% stake at R43/share. Ayo’s shares were worth R9 during the intra-day trade on 9 July, meaning that the PIC has lost about R3-billion from its initial investment. The PIC’s assistant portfolio manager Victor Seanie testified that Matjila was a close friend of Survé, which influenced the fund manager’s decision to invest in Ayo.