Statement by Andrew Bateman MP – DA Deputy Spokesperson on Appropriations:
The Finance Minister’s decision to seek the removal of the remaining non-executive directors is a recognition that governance at the PIC has suffered a complete breakdown.
The suspensions of the Public Investment Corporation’s CEO and CIO, the whistleblower allegations, the FSCA investigation, the resignations of directors and now the proposed removal of the remaining board members all point to an institution in crisis.
Replacing directors may resolve the immediate crisis, but unless we fix the governance framework that allowed this crisis to develop, the cycle is likely to repeat.
This week the DA announced our ‘Pension Protection Bill’ – submitted to Parliament’s legal services already – which will fix the governance issues that currently plague the PIC.
The DA’s Pension Protection Bill would implement long-overdue reforms by ensuring that the PIC Board Chairperson is independent rather than a serving politician, that appointments are made on merit, and that political interference is reduced.
We owe it to South Africa’s teachers, nurses, police officers and other public servants to ensure that their retirement savings are protected by robust governance.

Sexual Chocolate
Aikona – not on your life [eye-koh-na] or [hi-koh-na] A Zulu term used to express shock or disbelief when talking to friends or family.Example: “Aikona, why did she do that?!” / “Haikona, when?! How?!”
3D Waffle
So I\’m real good friends with this guy named Juan Ted. Now, Juan is a pretty unbelievable guy. He can steal ANYTHING he wants to. Literally anything. It could be the shirt off your back, the wallet in your pocket, or I\’m even sure he\’d find a way to steal your house (And your spouse too). So anyway, one day Juan and I are sitting around watching TV, and they announced that the hope diamond will not be on display anymore and is now getting moved to an undisclosed location. So as we hear this, Juan says \”I\’m gonna steal it\”. Now I know how good Juan is at this kind of stuff, so I just tell him good luck and he goes on his way. Eventually he narrows his search down to a small cave in South Africa. When Juan gets there, he doesn\’t see any guards or anything outside the cave, so he just walks in assuming he was wrong about where the diamond was. He wanders around for a while until he sees a long lit hallway with the hope diamond at the end of it. Confident in his abilities, he strolls over to the diamond and picks it up before realizing its a trap! Suddenly, red lights flashed, armed men came running out, sirens went off. You could hear one of the men say under his breath \”We finally caught Juan Ted.\” But Juan, being the best thief in the world, said \”Not quite. On the count of three, I will disappear.\” As the men looked around confused, Juan began to count. \”Uno. Dos.\” And he disappeared without a tres.