Dan Matjila's opening salvo at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) commission must have set alarm bells ringing in all sorts of places, not least Luthuli House, as the former CEO and long-serving chief investment officer (CIO) appeared to answer to a range of accusations that have been levelled against him about his 15-year tenure.
Matjila's testimony began with a careful construction of his personal and professional rise to the top of the continent's largest investment manager.
By his account: a hard-working young man with a gift for numbers who pulled himself up by his bootstraps and made the most of the scant opportunities afforded to black people in the apartheid era. Cue a doting father, a committed husband; he also spoke warmly of past companies and former colleagues.
[I was under] …
— Dan Matjila, former CEO and CIO of the PIC
immense pressure to
fund transactions
from entitled and
influential people
Matjila described how he, together with a young Brian Molefe, crafted the foundation of the entity that took on a more modern, corporate form when the old Public Debt Commissioners became the PIC in 2003.
Unlike Molefe, though, Matjila is now accounting for his time at the top of an enormous and strategic state-owned entity. While alluding to the immense pressure he felt as the PIC's CIO to fund transactions from "entitled" and "very influential" people who included "senior politicians of most parties", Matjila's testimony has been reticent on the admission of his sins and liberal on the transgressions of others.
He has accused Zweli Mkhize of asking the PIC to donate money to the ANC (an allegation Mhkize has denied), Malusi Gigaba of attempting to "capture" the PIC (Gigaba's attorney has rejected the allegations and says his client may well apply to cross-examine Matjila), and Dudu Myeni of having an "overt" expectation the PIC would fund SAA - the funding was never approved.
Matjila was allotted a week to testify before the commission but, as has been a theme at the inquiry into affairs at the state-owned asset manager, Matjila's testimony was drawn out and his time expired barely halfway through his 227-page prepared statement.
Matjila is expected to return in the coming week to complete his testimony, which may become even more laboured as he begins to discuss the specifics of controversial deals that have attracted significant media scrutiny and prior testimony. This will include transactions involving Steinhoff, S&S Refinery, Independent Media, AYO Technology Solutions, SA Home Loans, Daybreak Farms, and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated.
But the most eagerly watched aspect of his testimony may well relate to the PIC's involvement in VBS Mutual Bank. Matjila improperly benefited from a previously undisclosed loan of R2.45m from VBS Mutual Bank, according to excerpts of a forensic report prepared at the behest of the PIC board and which began circulating last Monday on social media.
The number of pages in Dan
Matjila’s prepared statement
at the PIC inquiry. Matjila
In Nu mb ers was formerly CEO of the PIC
— 227
Matjila flatly denied ever receiving a loan and said he had not heard of the report until it was shown to him during the course of the week. He maintained his innocence and called the evidence used to support the allegation "flimsy".
The commission has already been granted an extension by President Cyril Ramaphosa, and has until the end of July to complete its hearings, finalise its forensic investigation, and submit its report. This is increasingly looking unlikely, given that all those now implicated by Matjila will have the right to appear before the commission and can then apply to cross-examine him.
The inquiry has snowballed since hearings began in January. The broad terms of reference included establishing whether any transactions were irregularly made and improperly benefited employees and known associates.
This began with a handful of transactions and has subsequently ballooned to 38 deals being scrutinised by the commission's four investigators. The Zondo commission, by contrast, has 100 investigators.
In addition, as more people have been encouraged to come forward, emboldened by the courageous example of PIC employee Victor Seanie, more people have been implicated. More than 70 witnesses have now testified at the commission.
Those who have felt impugned by testimony have the right to have their attorneys cross-examine the accusers only once they themselves have testified.
As Matjila demonstrated this week, the commission might well have to find space to accommodate further testimony and cross-examination.
It appears highly unlikely the commission will finish its hearings this month, never mind complete the forensic investigation and synthesise hundreds of pages of testimony into a definitive report worthy of the consideration of the president.
Business Times understands the commission has requested another extension but has encountered resistance from the presidency. But this is a seminal moment for the country and the PIC.
The commission must be given the resources and time to reset this vital institution with care and clarity.
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