Cyril Ramaphosa extends deadline for PIC commission

The number of issues coming up at the inquiry into governance at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) have once again prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to extend the deadline for the submission of the final report.

 “Given the breadth of the investigations and the number of witnesses giving evidence at public hearings, the commission requested a further extension. The president has thus extended the term of the commission by a further three months, with the final report now due on the 31 October 2019,” said the commission, which is being chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Lex Mpati. 

The commission was originally supposed to hand its final report to the president at the end of April, but following a request by the commission an additional three months was provided to complete the work, extending the deadline to the end of July. 

The terms of reference were established by proclamation from the president in October 2018 and were wide-ranging in nature. The commission was tasked with investigating allegations of impropriety at the state-owned asset manager as well as conducting a review of organisational matters. 

Hearings began in January and more than seventy witnesses have testified before the commission. The hearings are now reaching their conclusion with the appearance of the PIC’s former CEO, Dan Matjila. He is scheduled to resume his fourth week of testimony on August 12, following a recess. 

The forensic investigation that is being conducted in parallel with the hearings has snowballed. Beginning with a handful of deals that had garnered media scrutiny it has now grown to as many as 38, according to people familiar with the matter.

 thompsonw@businesslive.co.za