What angered me greatly this year was Iqbal Surve and pensioners' savings squandered by the PIC supporting his media co's. Am reminded of it every time I see a Cape Times. Once proud, it is now a farcical mouthpiece for Surve and a promotional tool for his self-serving interests
PIC 'invested' R4.3 billion in Iqbal Surve's AYO at R43/share when the net asset value was just 15c per share. Analysts cried foul, but PIC went ahead. AYO shares barely trade, but last price was R23.60. A loss of at least R2 billion to government employees' pension funds.
Recently the PIC announced that it had written off a R1 billion loan to Iqbal Surve controlled Independent Media. Reason simply stated as failure to meet payment obligations. Surely there should be a fight to recover the loss to pensioner's savings? Court action at least.
