PIC staff want Matjila suspended so they can spill the beans

Employees of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) say they have knowledge of numerous irregularities and instances of impropriety, which they want to expose, but that CEO Dan Matjila and CFO Matshepo More need to be suspended so that the staff can testify freely to investigators. On Thursday, both anonymous and former staff members wrote to PIC chairman Mondli Gungubele, appealing to him and the rest of the board to suspend the two top executives. The board holds its regular board meeting on Friday, at which it will also decide on how to proceed with the two investigations — an independent inquiry and a forensic inquiry — announced by Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene. A key decision will be whether to suspend implicated individuals while the investigations are under way. Asked whether Nene thought that Matjila should be suspended during the independent investigation, spokesman for the minister Jabulani Sikhakhane said: "Your question puts the cart before the horse. The PIC’s memora...