Probe into PIC CEO gets underway

A South African investigation into the conduct of Public Investment Corp (PIC) Chief Executive Officer Daniel Matjila got underway last week with letters sent to staff seeking information, Business Day newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information.

Matjila has been under scrutiny for about a year following claims he used funds belonging to Africa’s biggest money manager to support the business of a woman with whom he was romantically involved. He’s denied the allegations, and has countered that they are part of a plan to remove him.

The Pretoria-based PIC manages almost R2 trillion ($132 billion) on behalf of government-worker pension funds and is the biggest shareholder on Johannesburg’s stock exchange.

Lawyers at Cheadle, Thompson & Haysom sent the letter to PIC staff on September 5, according to Johannesburg-based Business Day. Any potential whistleblower was asked to send information by September 7, so that interviews could take place this week.