FF Plus launches application to determine who the shareholders are of the unlisted entities in which the PIC had invested the funds of the Government Employee’s Pension Fund (GEPF)

21 October 2016

The FF Plus wants to know who exactly gains from investments of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) made with the Government Employee’s Pension Fund (GEPF), Adv. Anton Alberts, the FF Plus’ parliamentary spokesperson on Finance, says.

Adv. Alberts says the FF Plus is not satisfied with the information that the PIC had shared with the parliamentary portfolio committee on Finance on 18 October 2016.

He said the report shows which amounts had been invested in various entities, and also indicates who the directors are, but no mention is made of to whom these entities belong, which had received investments from the GEPF.

The FF Plus therefore submitted an application in terms of the Promotion to Access of Information Act (PAI Act) to obtain this information.

“The key question is whether any politically connected persons hold direct or indirect shares or any other interests in the entities in which investments had royally been made. Given the extent of state capture which is currently unfolding, it is important to determine whether any politically connected individuals had gained a financial advantage through the PIC which made investments on behalf of the GEPF and the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).

“It is well-known that the GEPF is ideally positioned to advantage politically connected individuals at the expense of GEPF members.

“The FF Plus, therefore, undertakes to sharpen its oversight of the GEPF to ensure that there isn’t another debacle like the one with Transnet’s pension funds,” Adv. Alberts says.

Issued by Anton Alberts, FF Plus parliamentary spokesperson, 21 October 2016