Cosatu won’t allow PIC to be used as ‘petty cash account’
TRADE union federation Cosatu has undertaken to oppose the Black Business Council’s (BBC’s) plans to increase black asset managers’ share of the R1.6 trillion managed by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).
Yesterday Cosatu slammed the BBC’s move, describing the plan as not in the interests of public servants and the working class.
The federation’s spokesperson, Sizwe Pamla, told Independent Media that PIC funds belonged to workers through the Government Employees Pension Fund, Unemployment Insurance Fund and Compensation Fund.
He said the PIC funded the government employees housing scheme.”The PIC is not petty cash for politicians and businesspeople,” Pamla added.
He said workers would push back against both black and white businesspeople who think that the PIC is a petty cash account.
According to Pamla, public servants will demand that businesspeople interested in being funded by the PIC must inform workers how they will benefit.
”They must explain what they have done with the smaller slice before campaigning for a bigger slice,” he added.
The BBC announced that it would campaign for the state-owned asset management firm to increase the participation of black fund managers in deals it finances.
At its two-day summit last week, the BBC resolved to “advocate for the increase of the PIC funds managed by black fund managers from the current 4% of R1.6 trillion to reflect the country’s demographics”.
The BBC will also monitor and evaluate the performance of development finance institutions such as the Industrial Development Corporation, National Empowerment Fund and the Development Bank of Southern Africa to ensure they meet the targets they set to support black business.
But the PIC defended itself, citing figures for the 2017/18 financial year that show it started its BroadBased Black Economic Empowerment developmental manager programme in 2009 to transform the asset management industry by increasing the participation of black asset managers as well as the number of black investment professionals (particularly black women).
At its inception, R64 billion was allocated across 18 mandates in the domestic listed equity and listed-property asset classes and that seven of these mandates were managed by black-owned firms.
According to the PIC, by the end of March last year, externalised assets had increased to R171.2bn through market movement and additional flows and R103.4bn (or 60%) of externalised assets were managed by black-owned firms.
Last year, the EFF introduced the Banks Amendment Bill, which the party hopes will lead to the creation of a state-owned bank.
At its national conference in December 2017, the ANC resolved to have the Post Bank licensed and capacitated to play a meaningful role in providing banking services before the end of term of office of the current administration.
Among the focal areas of the governing party’s Mangaung economic transformation resolutions in 2012 were the establishment of a state bank.
The BBC also announced ambitious resolutions taken at the gathering, which include the establishment of a black-owned bank and airline, as well as for the Land Bank to be biased towards black farmers, including correcting the current trend of white farmers receiving 95% of its funding.