RON DERBY: Matjila's power-hoarding to avoid conflict an unhealthy recourse
One of the first changes that Dan Matjila made to the Public Investment Corporation organogram when he took over some four years ago was to do away with his old job of chief investment officer (CIO). In hindsight, this was perhaps the biggest mistake of his tenure at the helm of the JSE's largest investor. What it did was to place way too much power in his hands. While he divided the position of CIO into four different executive positions reporting to him, it only served to place more power in the CEO's hands. The reason for the corporate shuffling related to his power struggles as CIO with Elias Masilela, who had taken over as CEO from Brian Molefe. It's a struggle that would lead to Masilela's unceremonious departure as CEO of the PIC just three years into the job. There simply wasn't good chemistry between Matjila and Masilela, and one of them had to leave the building. But the position of CIO, which all the main fund managers in the country such as Allan Gray and Coronation main...
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