CAPE TOWN - THE CHAIRPERSON of Sekunjalo Investment Holdings and Independent Media, Dr Iqbal Survé, has written to the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance requesting meetings about the ongoing disputes with the state-owned asset management company.
Dr Survé’s meeting requests come against the background of proposals made in December last year by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni for an engagement between Parliament, Sekunjalo Independent Media (SIM) and AYO Technology Solutions regarding the ongoing disputes with the PIC.
At the time Mboweni said: “I think maybe this committee should invite the chair of AYO and Sekunjalo … to have a conversation on how these arrangements were made. But I think it would be very wrong of us to tarnish the reputation of the whole of AYO or Sekunjalo organisation based on this. I think it would be unfair.”
In his meeting request to the Standing Committee on Finance’s chairperson, Joseph Maswanganyi, Dr Survé said: “Through this engagement we will share more insight into the background and evolution of Sekunjalo Group, AYO Technology Solutions, the rationale for our investments in AYO and the background to the PIC’s investment in AYO and Independent Media.”
Dr Survé said there had been many media reports, much speculation and allegations made by third parties that had no basis in fact.
“It is imperative that as the country’s employment crisis accelerates, we find solutions to resolve the impasse with the PIC. It is our submission that the resolution of this will be in the broader strategic and economic interests of the country, as well as our group of companies,” he said.
In a similar request to the PIC chief executive Abel Sithole, Dr Survé said: “The Sekunjalo Group has always conducted its business with utmost integrity and is disappointed with suggestions of ’impropriety’.
“As chairman of the group, I have always stressed the importance of working within the ambit of the law, regulatory environment and adhering to the utmost ethical conduct throughout the group’s 20 years of existence.
“The group has consistently taken a steadfast anti-corruption stance from its inception till today and will continue doing so in the future.
“We therefore welcome the opportunity to engage with the PIC to explain our side of the story. Our proposal for this engagement is informed by the firm intention of sitting down with the PIC as a co-investor in AYO Technologies, to find the best possible solution to preserve the value of the PIC/Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF) investment.”
Notwithstanding the ongoing dispute and the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, AYO Technology Solutions has paid the PIC, the primary asset manager of the GEPF, more than R180 million in dividends, he said.
BUSINESS REPORT