PIC board quits en masse
Directors say negative public perceptions stymie their operation
Under the weight of scrutiny for alleged wrongdoing and impropriety, the entire board of the Public Investment Corp (PIC), Africa's largest pension manager, sent out a letter of resignation late on Friday.
The development throws the manager of more than R2-trillion of assets into a deeper crisis.
For months SA has been gripped by a number of probes into the operating of the state over the past decade, which has been marked by a series of scandals that have stretched all the way to the office of former president Jacob Zuma.
Since the start of 2019, the PIC has been the subject of an inquiry into some of its investment decisions, highlighted by its investment into technology company Ayo Technology, which is associated with one-time Zuma ally Iqbal Surve.
Eyebrows were also raised by the institution's support of the now collapsed VBS Mutual Bank that benefited some senior PIC employees.
The board "took a view that things have reached a stage where every decision the board takes may run the risk of having the lowest respect in the eyes of the public", board chairperson and deputy finance minister Mondli Gungubele told Business Times on Friday...
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