Parliament – The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) on Tuesday conceded that it had lost R99 billion on the markets over two days in December following the firing of then finance minister Nhlanhla Nene and agreed to disclose more detail, at a future date, on its unlisted investment portfolio.
The admission was made by the CEO of the PIC, Daniel Matjila, before Parliament’s standing committee on finance, in response to a question by Democratic Alliance David Mayiner.
Matjila also disclosed that the Unemployment Insurance Fund lost R7 billion and the Compensation Fund R3 billion in the 48 hours after Nene was fired by President Jacob Zuma, who replaced him with Desmond van Rooyen before bowing to pressure days later to bring back Pravin Gordhan to the key portfolio.
The PIC holds R1.8 trillion in assets under its management and counts the Government Employees Pension Fund as one of its biggest clients.
Said Maynier: “This is a stark reminder of how much damage was done to pensioners‘ savings and proof that President Jacob Zuma was dead wrong when he claimed the effect of his disastrous decisions was ‘exaggerated’ in South Africa.”
He added however, that the “real story” was not the losses suffered as a result of the shockwaves Nene’s firing sent through the markets, but Matjila’s commitment on Tuesday to respond in detail to MPs questions about the PIC’s investment in unlisted companies.
Later on Tuesday, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant responded to suggestions that her department was not doing enough to combat unemployment by saying that the government’s investments with the PIC contributed to job creation.
“In terms of investment we have R1.8 trillion through the PIC so that they can be able to assist those who want to establish businesses and to ensure that those businesses they support, create jobs,” she told a media briefing following her department’s budget vote debate.
Labour director-general Thobile Lamathi added that he wanted to “dispel the notion that the money with PIC is just sitting there” as government received a return of roughly five percent on its investment and that some of the money was used to give sector-specific training to unemployed people and to assist entrepreneurs to run their businesses in a sound manner.
African News Agency