Treasury orders PIC to withhold bonuses from its executives

Executives at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), Africa’s biggest fund manager, won’t be paid bonuses until it’s been determined whether they played a role in the collapse of governance at the institution.

The National Treasury has instructed the PIC, which mainly manages the pensions of government workers, to withhold incentive payments until the outcome of a judicial commission of inquiry that took place in 2019  is known. The commission’s findings are being considered by President Cyril Ramaphosa and have not been made public.

The instruction to the PIC was “to enable the board and the minister to be in a better position to consider the implications of paying bonuses to executives and managers who may have been responsible for the governance fallout”, the Treasury said in a response to questions.

The R2.13-trillion money manager faced allegations of corruption, political interference and governance lapses during months of testimony at the judge Lex Mpati commission of inquiry into its operations. A number of senior executives left and at least two are demanding the payment of their incentives. The executives were told in a letter in 2019 that they would not be paid the incentives, if at all, until after the commission’s report had been completed, the Treasury said.

The PIC has said it didn’t pay out long-term incentives for the 2017/2018 financial year, while long- and short-term incentives for the 2018/2019 year have been withheld. In total, R51m of incentives have been kept back.

Dan Matjila, the fund manager’s former CEO, is due R10.7m, according to its annual reports. Matshepo More, his replacement who is on suspension on allegations she interfered with the commission, is due R6.7m.

Bloomberg