Treasury hits back on ‘R100bn’ PIC request

The finance ministry said yesterday it didn’t request a government pension fund to provide R100 billion to help it bail out struggling state firms, calling any reports to that effect “malicious and unconstructive”.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported on Friday that the Treasury needed at least R100 billion to rescue debt-laden Eskom, oil company PetroSA and aerospace company Denel.

It also said the ministry had asked the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), Africa’s biggest investment fund, to buy its stake worth R12 billion in Telkom to fund a bailout of South African Airways.

In its statement, the ministry made no mention of any request regarding Telkom, referring only to a R100 billion figure.

The ministry said Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba had “noted with concern” reports it “wanted to use R100 billion of the funds in the Public Investment Corporation to bail out State Owned Enterprises.”

“The Minister would like to clarify that these reports are untrue. No formal or informal request has been sent to the PIC for such funds,” the ministry stated.

PIC’s head of corporate affairs, Deon Botha, said the fund had held “discussions” with the ministry regarding such a purchase but that it would not be pushed into making an investment decision. – Reuters

The Minister would like to clarify that these reports are untrue. No formal or informal request has been sent to the PIC for such funds