A report into allegations of impropriety at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has detailed the role played by Dan Matjila, former CEO of Africa's largest fund manager, in subverting investment processes in order to speed up a R4.3bn share subscription in controversial Ayo Technology Solutions.
The report also revealed that businessman Iqbal Survé paid a R4m "bonus" to PSG Capital for the successful listing of Ayo on the JSE.
Survé's company, Sekunjalo Investment Holdings, is the holding company of Africa Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI), which holds a majority stake in Ayo Technologies.
The commission's report, released by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday, says that PIC investments in all companies related to Sekunjalo showed "marked disregard for PIC policy and standard operating procedures". Proper governance procedures were absent when investment decisions were taken and the close relationship between Matjila and Survé "created top-down pressures" on PIC employees to approve them, it says.
According to the report, Matjila pressured PIC officials to hastily look into the upcoming initial public offering by Ayo and to conduct due diligence as to its suitability for investment by the fund. But in the absence of such due diligence, Matjila went ahead and signed a form that bound the PIC to investing in Ayo at a grossly inflated valuation.
The commission also says it was provided with e-mails indicating that PSG Capital, which acted as the transactional adviser and sponsor for the Ayo listing, received a "generous" bonus of about R4m from Survé for the successful listing.
But David Tosi, senior corporate financier at PSG Capital, denied on Friday that Survé had paid them the R4m, saying the money came from Ayo. "No fee was paid by Dr Survé, everything came from Ayo," Tosi said. He declined to comment further.
The commission also found that Matjila was instrumental in a decision to subscribe for shares in another of Survé's companies, Sagarmatha, at R39.62 a share when the shares were actually valued at R7.06. The Sagarmatha listing didn't go ahead after the JSE pulled the plug at the last minute.
Contacted on Friday, Matjila said he was still studying the report and would not comment at this stage.
Survé did not respond to calls or text messages. Efforts to obtain comment from Ayo Technologies chair Wallace Mgoqi also drew a blank.
A statement from Sekunjalo said the company was happy that the report had not made any adverse findings against Sekunjalo, Ayo and other subsidiary companies.
"The improprieties are pointing at the poor governance and failure to abide by due process and relevant prescripts. We are delighted because we always maintained that Sekunjalo and its businesses acted with integrity," the company said in the statement.
Meanwhile, Harith General Partners, which manages the R10bn Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF), has disputed the commission's findings that it charged "significantly high fees" on the two Pan African funds it manages on behalf of the PIC and the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). The commission accused Harith of setting up a share scheme that benefited its employees and management rather than the PIC and GEPF.
It recommended that the PIC and GEPF appoint an independent investigator to probe the PAIDF initiative, and look into whether all monies have been accounted for properly and if any "overcharged" funds should be recovered. The Harith issue arose from testimony by United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa before the commission in which he made serious allegations against Harith.
In a statement, Harith welcomed the finding that there was no corruption in its business dealings or on the part of any of its executives. The company said it was looking forward to engaging with the PIC and GEPF on the issues of fees charged.
"These fees were negotiated transparently with all investors, who are large financial services entities integrated with the global financial system and equipped with deep financial knowledge of this type of fee structure. These fees represent a fair and standard charge applied to all our investors," it said.
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