Treasury wants the PIC to provide R100m to fund SOEs in dire straits
But PIC head Daniel Matjila has rejected a request to buy the Treasury’s entire R12bn stake in Telkom, saying that it would leave the PIC overexposed to Telkom
The Treasury is pressuring the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), Africa’s biggest money manager, to provide as much as R100bn to fund struggling state companies, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. The PIC, which manages state-employee pension funds and has about R1.86-trillion in assets, has been asked by the Treasury to buy its entire R12bn stake in Telkom to pay for a bailout of South African Airways (SAA), said the people, who asked not to be identified as the talks were private. PIC CEO Daniel Matjila has rejected the request, saying a purchase of the 39% shareholding would leave the company overexposed to the landline provider, they said. After a bailout for SAA, which is technically insolvent, the government needs cash for Eskom, oil company PetroSA and defence firm Denel, according to the people. The companies have been beset by allegations of mismanagement and corruption and the running of state firms was cited by ratings agencies when they cut SA to...
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