News24Wire reports that the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has argued for worker representation on the board of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), saying this would help keep looting in check and increase workers' trust.  

Matthew Parks, the federation's parliamentary coordinator, was on the witness stand at the judicial commission of inquiry into the PIC on Tuesday.  The commission is investigating allegations of wrongdoing at the state-run asset manager, which manages about R2.2-trillion in investments on behalf of public servants.  Parks told the commission that the trust of workers had been abused for far too long.  He observed:  "[Workers] really want to have representation on the PIC board.  The asset manager had failed to keep workers updated on the scope and reasoning behind its investments.”  While Cosatu has representation on the board of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), it does not have members on the PIC's board.  The PIC invests on behalf of the GEPF, as well as the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and the Compensation Fund.  Parks also proposed that all PIC investments should be made public and no senior PIC executive should be allowed to conclude investments without oversight.

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