This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
BusinessLive reports that the Mpati inquiry into the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) heard on Monday that the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) was misled by the state-owned asset manager in respect of its R4.3bn investment in Ayo Technology Solutions.
The PIC invested in Ayo in December 2017, but the deal has been controversial for a number of reasons, including allegations that processes were deliberately manipulated to invest in the company that business person Iqbal Survé indirectly controls. The PIC bought a 29% stake at R43 a share, implying a valuation of R14.8bn. But a few months before, financial statements showed that Ayo had total assets of R292m and a book value of R67m. Since then, the share has traded at far below the original valuation. Abel Sithole, GEPF principal executive officer, told the inquiry that the PIC “did not involve nor inform the GEPF when it considered and made the investment in Ayo. It did not highlight this investment in its subsequent reporting to the GEPF.” The GEPF is by far the largest client of the PIC, with assets of more than R1.8-trillion. Sithole was also shocked to find that the PIC had included the GEPF as a plaintiff when it launched litigation earlier this year to recover the money invested in the company.
- Read the full original of Warren Thompson’s report in the above regard at BusinessLive
- Read too, Custodian of government-worker pension money was blindsided by PIC’s R4.3bn AYO deal, at Daily Maverick
- And also, State pension fund was in the dark about Ayo transaction, at Moneyweb
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page