Details of PIC board meeting on Matjila emerge

Daniel Matjila, CE of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), may have survived a dramatic board meeting without sanction on Friday, but his future as head of Africa’s largest fund manager is still bleak.

Three people close to the process say the aim of the board seemed to be to fire Matjila and chief finance officer Matshepo More and replace them with people more amenable to the government’s dictates.

The board will consider the outcome of an internal investigation into his conduct at a special meeting on September 29.

Other key members of the board might be replaced with more amenable appointments, said the sources. The sources are close to the board but cannot be named as they are not authorised to speak on the matter.

The board met until late on Friday and initially agreed to institute an investigation into Matjila’s conduct under procedures emanating from a whistle-blower’s report, said the three people who were at the meeting. Matjila had not been given an opportunity to present his side of the story when the decision was made.

After Matjila and More had been allowed into the meeting for the board resolution to be communicated to them, Matjila protested, saying he had not been given an opportunity to respond to the allegations. He was then given such a chance.

“He presented all the documentary evidence that led to the decisions the PIC had taken. Some board members then felt the earlier decision was incorrect,” said one of the sources.

Matjila has been accused in an e-mail of irregularly favouring a company headed by a woman said to be his girlfriend, awarding it millions of rand.

An inquiry under a whistleblower’s report usually begins with a suspension of the subject of the probe until the investigation can confirm whether there is prima facie evidence to pursue a disciplinary process that may lead to a dismissal.

While it publicly communicated its “full confidence in his integrity”, the board also resolved to institute a probe into Matjila, but termed it a verification exercise of the documentary evidence he presented.