By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday, has set aside the precautionary suspension of Public Investment Corporation (PIC) CEO Patrick Dlamini.
Dlamini was suspended by the now-dissolved board, headed by Deputy Minister of Finance David Masondo.
The court ruled in Dlamini’s favour on all counts, declaring his precautionary suspension of 13 July 2026, unlawful, invalid and of no force or effect, setting it aside with immediate effect.
Judge Mandla Mbongwe said in his ruling that the board did not have the authority to suspend Dlamini.
Section 6 of the Public Investment Corporation Act provides that the minister of finance, in consultation with cabinet, appoints the CEO.
The board’s role is limited to selecting and recommending a suitable candidate.
The PIC’s Delegations of Authority require that any suspension of the CEO be recommended by the Human Resources and Remuneration Committee, initiated by the chair, and approved by the minister in consultation with cabinet.
“None of these prerequisites were met. The board acted unilaterally, without ministerial approval and in disregard of its own policies,” the 10-page judgement stated.
“The suspension was, therefore, ultra vires and invalid, ruled Judge Mbongwe.”
The PIC board was ordered to pay Dlamini’s legal costs.
Dlamini’s premature suspension was one of the issues that placed Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on a collision course with his deputy Masondo.
The PIC manages the pension savings of 1.3 million civil servants and has endured serious governance breaches and financial losses due to investment decisions often linked to politically connected individuals.
It has invested about R67 billion in nearly 150 unlisted entities since its inception in 2005 and at least 78 of these have lost some or all of the money, according to parliament data.
The fund manager has suffered significant losses with deals done around cement-maker AfriSam and chicken company Daybreak Farms, among many others, according to the data.
Meanwhile President Cyril Ramaphosa insists the PIC is not in “crisis.”
“The PIC is the largest asset manager on the continent, and it manages the assets of civil servants like me, civil servants like teachers, civil servants like parliamentarians and all that.”
“So it’s a very important institution that we need to safeguard. It manages almost half of the worth of our GDP, 3.6 trillion rand, said Ramaphosa.”
Cabinet has since announced appointment of eight non-executive directors of PIC, with Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Seiso Mohai appointed as chairperson.