PIC finally discloses secret investments valued at R44.6 billion 

18 October 2016

We welcome the decision by Dr Dan Matjila, Chief Executive Officer of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), to disclose information about investments in its "unlisted portfolio", which were valued at R44.6 in the 2015/16 financial year. 

Today, for the first time, the Public Investment Corporation revealed 12 pieces of information, including the name, type, value, internal rate of return and the names of all directors of all 250 investments, on 31 March 2016. 

This brings to an end my five-month-long campaign for greater transparency at the Public Investment Corporation, which began on 10 May 2016, during a heated Standing Committee on Finance meeting in Parliament. 

The fact that the information has been made public is significant because: 

- we can, for the first time, scrutinize the 250 investments in the "unlisted portfolio" of the Public Investment Corporation; and

- the expectation that such information will be disclosed in the future, will be a major disincentive to "rent seekers", with political influence, from trying to raid the Public Investment Corporation. 

The Deputy Minister of Finance, Mcebisi Jonas, and the Chief Executive Officer, Dr Dan Matjila, have been courageous and deserve full credit for opening up the Public Investment Corporation. 

The fact is the Public Investment Corporation manages public funds on behalf of clients, principally the Government Employees Pension Fund, and should never have been allowed to withhold information on any investments from Parliament. 

Issued by David Maynier, DA Shadow Minister of Finance, 18 October 2016