JOHANNESBURG - Chief Executive of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), Dr Daniel Matjila, will stay at the helm of the entity.
The outcome is seen as a move to safeguard the future of of South Africa’s pensioners. The state owned entity (SOE) boasts assets of over R1.9trn and handles pension funds for South African government workers, including that of teachers and nurses.
Matjila was accused of corruption in what was believed to be a as smash-and-grab operation to discredit him and make way for a Gupta acolyte to take over the SOE.
After weeks of attempts from what are seen to be ‘Gupta corners’ to remove him, Matjila, an internationally recognized business leader, fought back and won.
The scheduled board meeting, the third this month, kicked off shortly after 09H00 this morning… and continued until after “close of business” almost 9 hours later. Sources informed BR that the PIC board members met in a “closed meeting” after 14H on Friday.
Various attempts to reach Matjila during the course of the day were unsuccessful. In a joint statement issued last night, the board said that allegations of corruption against Matjila were “baseless”.
“The Board fully applied its mind to the report presented by (the) internal audit (committee) and confirms its satisfaction with the report. The Board has concluded that the allegations were baseless and that Dr Matjila is cleared of any wrongdoing,” it read.