CAPE TOWN – President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday extended the deadline of the submission of the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into allegations of impropriety at the Public Investment Corporation from October 31 to December 15.
In a statement, the Office of The Presidency said the extension was upon the request of the Commissioner of the inquiry Justice Lex Mpati.
The Commission was appointed by President Ramaphosa on October 17, 2017, to look into allegations of impropriety regarding the PIC.
The commission has heard evidence from more than 77 witnesses over eight months, with some commentators noting a rather heavy focus on black-owned companies.
Some of the witness testimonies have not only given its evidence leader, Advocate Jannie Lubbe, sleepless nights but have visibly irritated those conducting the inquiry, to the point where assistant commissioner Gill Marcus has had a number of emotional outbursts – which have even led to a widespread backlash on social media.
Advocate Lubbe also set social media on fire when the then PIC’s acting chief executive Matshepo More revealed to the commission that he called her to a private meeting to give her fatherly advice.
More said Advocate Lubbe advised her to request special leave as she was implicated in the testimonies at the commission. More rejected the evidence leader’s fatherly advice and opted to deal with the allegations against her at the Mpati Commission.
As the commission drew to a close, former chief executive Dr Dan Matjila urged it to dispel the perception that it exclusively looked at black-owned entities.
In his closing submission to the commission, Matjila said it had occurred to him that all transactions that came under serious scrutiny were those that involved black participants.
“It may just be my perception but a very difficult one to dismiss in view of the fact that we dealt with many mainly white-owned companies,” he said.
The companies that came under serious scrutiny include, among others, AYO Technology Solutions, Sagarmatha Technologies, Harith General Partners, Lebashe Investment Group, Tosaco Energy, Erin Energy, SNS Refineries, Mobile Specialised Technologies and Lancaster Group.
Lancaster owner Jayendra Naidoo was afforded a "cameo appearance" towards the end to share how the asset manager funded his transaction, largely described as a one-man show.