THE Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has dismissed media reports and comments by some public figures insinuating that PIC funds will be used for the acquisition of a 51% stake in the South African Airways.
The fund manager, which managers civil servants pensions on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), confirmed on Monday that though it owns 30% of Harith General Partners, which makes up half of the Takatso consortium, it is not involved in the acquisition of SAA.
The acquisition of SAA by Takasto has raised eyebrows from various parties, including labour unions and opposition parties, which have questioned whether the government paid for the airline using public servants pension money considering the historical links between the PIC and Harith.
Parties have also raised concerns about the involvement of politically exposed individuals like former deputy minister of Finance Jabu Moleketi and ANC heavyweight Popo Molefe, who are part of the consortium, for influencing Takatso Consortium being appointed as the private equity partner.
“The PIC is not involved in this acquisition, nor are the assets that it manages on behalf of clients,” the PIC said in a statement.
“However, the PIC owns 30% of Harith General Partners and some of the individuals involved in Takatso Consortium may previously have been associated with the PIC. Nonetheless, Harith General Partners and the Takatso Consortium did not involve the PIC in any way in this acquisition.”
It added: “Whilst it is a fact that the PIC has shares in Harith General Partners, it must be stated that the PIC is not a member of Takatso Consortium, which we understand is a special vehicle established by Harith General Partners and Global Airways. The PIC remains focused on delivering on its investment mandate on behalf of its clients.”
The PIC’s investment in Harith’s Pan African Infrastructure Development Funds (PAIDF 1 & 2) dates back to 2007 when the state-owned fund manager invested an R20m in the funds and appointed Takatso’s chair, Tshepo Mahloele, to establish the funds and who, in due course, became the CEO of Harith in its various forms.
Harith established and manages the PAIDFs, which invest in a range of infrastructure assets in SA and across the continent.
The investment was subject to investigation at the Mpati Commission in 2019.
The commission found that Harith’s conduct was driven by “financial reward to its employees, and not returns to the GEPF”.
UDM president, Bantu Holomisa has called for parliament’s standing committee on accounts and the public enterprises committee to investigate whether the transaction was above board.
“We have absolutely no information, but given the players, we can speculate. What if PIC funds (in other words, government pensioners’ monies) were leveraged to finance a potentially fatally risky deal with government. It would be very wrong and illegal and, ironically, government would in the end be bailing out SAA yet again,” Holomisa said in statement.
- Inside Politics
