The new CEO of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) Patrick Dlamini has been mandated by the board to clean up its multibillion-rand unlisted portfolio, which has courted controversy.
Dlamini’s appointment to one of the most sought-after roles in SA’s investment landscape has been endorsed by cabinet, with him set to replace outgoing CEO Abel Sithole, who is due to retire in July 2025.
Formerly Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) CEO — a role he held for a decade until stepping down in 2023 — Dlamini takes over at the PIC in June, putting him at the helm of the largest investor in SA’s equities market.
PIC chair David Masondo said Dlamini was fit for purpose to lead the organisation and that one of his immediate tasks would be to address the asset manager’s pressing issues.
“His expertise in leading complex turnarounds, fostering operational excellence and driving sustainable growth positions him to advance the PIC’s investment mandate,” he said.
Masondo added that Dlamini, working with management, would be expected to apply his turnaround expertise to address the immediate concerns that confront the PIC, “specifically in its unlisted portfolio”.
“The board is confident that his principled commitment to corporate governance will strengthen our response to embed ethics, accountability and integrity across all PIC business functions, whilst driving long-term growth and value in the investment portfolios of our clients,” Masondo said.
The PIC, Africa’s largest fund manager, manages close to R3-trillion in assets — R2.6-trillion of which belongs to the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), with the remainder from the Compensation Fund, the Unemployment Insurance Fund and other clients.
Of this, 95% is invested in listed markets, and 5% in unlisted investments. The PIC in April told parliament that more than 40% of its unlisted portfolio was in distress after a sustained period of underperformance. The entity, which reports to the finance minister, has injected about R100bn in more than 150 private-owned companies over the years.
Sithole was appointed to the role in 2020 by a board led by then-chair Reuel Khoza.
At the time, Sithole was the principal executive officer of the GEPF and the commissioner of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority.
Masondo, who is also one of the deputy finance ministers, said Sithole’s tenure would bring stability to the company.
“Mr Sithole played a vital role in expanding the company’s market presence and restoring credibility between the PIC, its clients, regulators and other stakeholders,” he said.
“Under Mr Sithole’s leadership, assets under management for the first time grew to over R3-trillion by September 2024, which is a remarkable achievement and [benefits] ... all clients, their members and beneficiaries.”
Dlamini is no stranger to state-related entities, having spent a decade at the helm of the DBSA, where he led the lender’s turnaround. The DBSA under Dlamini’s tenure, which ended in 2023, more than doubled its assets, breaching the R100bn mark for the first time in 2020.
This as the entity evolved from a traditional financing development finance institution (DFI) to one involved in the entire project life cycle from planning and preparation to financing.
Before his appointment at DBSA, Dlamini was CEO of Air Traffic and Navigation Services Company of SA.
Sithole assumed the role to stabilise the institution after leadership turmoil and allegations of mismanagement, which culminated in the establishment of a commission of inquiry chaired by retired judge Lex Mpati.
One of the steps the board took was to separate the roles of CEO and chief investment officer — roles that were combined under former boss Dan Matjila to the detriment of investment decision-making processes, according to the Mpati inquiry.
One of Mpati’s observations was that the frequent changes to the finance minister as the shareholder representative and the role of the deputy minister as chair, regardless of skills and experience, contributed to ineffective governance at the PIC.
However, this concern was not addressed as President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the PIC Amendment Act, which still required that the chair of the fund manager’s board be a deputy minister appointed by the finance minister or any other deputy minister in the economic cluster.
One of the changes that followed the Mpati commission saw the inclusion of workers’ representatives on the PIC board.
The PIC is an important buyer of government debt. Its aggregate public sector fixed-income holding exposure for government bonds or state-owned enterprises is almost R900bn.
Update: May 15 2025
This article has been updated throughout.
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