Latest news with #PublicInvestmentCorporation
The Citizen
a day ago
- Politics
- The Citizen
Wolwespruit wetland cleared after 20-year standoff
Tshwane metro, in collaboration with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), is exploring ways to secure and rehabilitate the Wolwespruit wetland area after the removal of squatters. On July 11, the metro completed the long-delayed relocation of illegal occupants from the environmentally sensitive Wolwespruit wetland, on the corner of Solomon Mahlangu Drive and Delmas Road. The move has been hailed by various political parties and civil rights organisations as a critical step in resolving a 20-year-old environmental and legal standoff that has hindered development in surrounding areas. According to Tshwane spokesperson Lindela Mashigo, 70 verified South African nationals have now been resettled at Pienaarspoort Ext 22, 23, and 25. These residents were part of a larger group of about 300 illegal squatters who had been occupying the wetland area for nearly two decades. Mashigo said the remaining individuals, identified as foreign nationals, were cleared from the area, and the land has since been handed over to the PIC, which owns several adjacent properties. He said the area is an environmentally sensitive area, which will not be developed immediately. However, any future developments would require comprehensive environmental assessments. 'For now, the city's priority is to preserve and protect the space,' Mashigo stated. ActionSA's Tshwane caucus spokesperson, Henriette Frohlich, welcomed the successful eviction and relocation, citing that the intervention should pave the way for increased property development in areas such as Erasmuskloof, Moreleta Park, and Mooikloof. 'The city has demonstrated commitment to resolving this long-standing crisis, and identifying permanent stands was essential to restoring dignity to the affected residents,' Frohlich said. She said the first eviction notices were issued in November 2021, after a 2020 census recorded 192 households at the site: 110 South African, 67 Basotho, and 15 Zimbabwean nationals. 'Legal attempts to relocate the community date back to July 2022, but were delayed by court challenges and opposition from human rights groups.' She said despite early resistance, the city eventually secured a court-ordered eviction, and relocation efforts resumed earlier this year, culminating in the recent clearance of the area. AfriForum welcomed the successful relocation of illegal squatters, who have occupied the wetland in Erasmuskloof, near Wolwespruit, for years. This follows the organisation's submission of a full report on the impact of these illegal dwellings on the city earlier this year. The civil rights organisation said the occupation of this area has caused serious problems such as an increase in crime, cable theft, and pollution. According to them, all of this has been exacerbated by ongoing illegal recycling and dumping. 'This has damaged the environment almost beyond repair. However, efforts have now begun to rehabilitate this area. Although there are still illegal squatters camping outside the site in Nossob Street and Solomon Mahlangu Drive, the Department of Human Settlements has undertaken to relocate them soon.' ALSO READ: Wolwespruit wetland secured, illegal squatters evicted Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to [email protected] or phone us on 083 625 4114. For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord's websites: Rekord East For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
IOL News
2 days ago
- IOL News
Successful relocation of Erasmuskloof squatters marks a new beginning for Wolwespruit wetland
The City of Tshwane has relocated residents of an illegal squatter camp in Erasmuskloof to Pienaarspoort, resolving years of complaints about crime and pollution in the area. Image: Supplied The City of Tshwane has successfully relocated residents of an illegal squatter camp in Erasmuskloof, Pretoria East, to Pienaarspoort after years of complaints from local residents about increased crime, cable theft, and pollution. The squatter camp, which had occupied the Wolwespruit wetland for over two decades, was home to approximately 300 people. Local councillor Andrew Lesch described the situation as a long-standing struggle, with court orders previously blocking the eviction of settlers from the wetland in Erasmuskloof. 'Since 2023 we have put a lot of effort to get all the people together to resettle the community. This environment is a wetland and it is not conducive for people to stay here. But also we have seen a lot of crime in the area and especially cable theft that has been taking place on this premises and within this community,' he said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ He said the site of the former squatter camp has been secured and handed over to the Public Investment Corporation, which is expected to begin the rehabilitation process soon, aiming to restore the wetland area and address any environmental damage caused by the illegal occupation. ActionSA Councilor Henriette Frohlich welcomed the removal of illegal squatters from the Wolwespruit wetland, located near Solomon Mahlangu Drive and Delmas Road. She said after years of legal battles with human rights lawyers attempting to block the city's eviction efforts, the Wolwespruit wetland has finally been cleared of illegal squatters and secured. The achievement, she said, is expected to stimulate property development in the surrounding areas, including Erasmuskloof, Moraleta Park, and Mooikloof. 'The first illegal squatters reportedly moved to Wolwespruit wetland nearly 20 years ago. It was never classified as an informal settlement, and was thus not included on the Upgrading of Informal Settlement Programme. By the time eviction notices were issued in November 2021, about 192 households were recorded, of which 110 were South African, 67 Basotho and 15 Zimbabweans,' she said. She said the illegal occupants survived on waste sorting, begging and piece jobs in the suburbs. Frohlich said: 'In July 2022, the City of Tshwane started to act on a court application to demolish the shacks and relocate the occupiers to Orchards Extension 10, but the illegal squatters refused to be moved. The City then requested the court to grant an urgent eviction order to evict or relocate the occupiers, but the urgent eviction application was dismissed with costs due to lack of urgency.' She explained that the new eviction application was then placed on a normal court role, and voluntary relocation forms distributed to the illegal squatters for submission. 'Only 70 South Africans were verified, most of whom have now been relocated to Pienaarspoort,' she said. AfriForum said its recent submission of a comprehensive report detailing the impact of the illegal dwellings to the city contributed to the successful relocation of the squatters. 'The occupation of this area has caused serious problems such as an increase in crime, cable theft and pollution, which has been exacerbated by illegal recycling and dumping. This has damaged the environment almost beyond repair. However, efforts have now begun to rehabilitate this area,' the organisation said.
Daily Maverick
14-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
After the Bell: The staggering size and stumbles of the colossal PIC
While so many of the Public Investment Corporation's investments are in listed entities and we can all see whether it's making good decisions, the problems come in with its unlisted investments where, perhaps, someone gets to play with a huge amount of money without a huge amount of attention. If it is true that compound interest is the 'eighth wonder of the world', then the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) must be its colossus. It is so staggeringly big that it almost defies comprehension. The PIC currently has more than R3-trillion in assets. And it controls about 10% of the JSE. The scale of it is so big that its investment decisions could not just make or break companies, they might even make or break entire industries in South Africa. It makes the proposed Transformation Fund that would invest R100-billion look like a tiddler by comparison. It is just that big. There are important reasons it got so big, but one of them must be its age. It was created in 1911. That's just one year after South Africa was formed as a nation state in a colonial project. Like Warren Buffett's investing career, the PIC is a really good example of how time in the market is such an important factor. At the same time, of course, as the number of government workers has increased (leading to many, many bitter fights), so has the money it has to manage. The Government Employees' Pension Fund is its main client – millions go from government employee salaries into the fund every month. Considering how much money we are talking about, it is quite strange that we don't talk about it more. One of the reasons for that is so many of its investments are in listed entities. Basically it is putting money into companies listed on the JSE. And that means we can all see whether or not it's making good decisions. This is a kind of forced transparency (in its 2024 annual financial statements it flags 'transparency' as its first pillar of governance'). And by and large, it works. The problems come in, obviously, in its unlisted investments. This is where it makes decisions that we cannot see so easily. And I suspect we are going to see a lot more attention on this soon. On Monday, News24 published an important story saying that the acting head of the manager's unlisted investments unit, Thabiso Moshikara, is being accused of trying to get a R3-million bribe from someone whose company is being funded by the PIC. The person making the claim, Ralebala Mampeule, even claims Moshikara came to his house with 'unidentified males'. This must have come as a huge shock to the PIC and they will now have to investigate thoroughly. The problem is that it could take quite a while to know for sure what happened. Unfortunately, we now live in a society where it's entirely possible that someone offered Moshikara money for his influence, and when he refused, decided to simply make something up to get rid of him. Or it could all be true. At the same time, the PIC has recently been under fire over the Daybreak Farms fiasco. There it was quite clear that some of the directors and managers were just extracting money from a failing enterprise. While workers were protesting because they had not been paid and chickens were suffering because they were not being fed, the chair, Bojane Segooa, hung on until the last minute. The moment she received a payment of R625,000, she resigned. Daybreak is wholly owned by the PIC. Sunday Times journalist Sabelo Skiti had been warning us for years and years that this would happen at Daybreak. And his reporting and warnings were ignored by the PIC. This has infuriated Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to the point where he has instituted an inquiry into the unlisted fund. I've never understood why an institution as massive as the PIC would not act when someone like Skiti reports on Daybreak in the way he did. It surely has the resources to monitor its unlisted investments. It is negligence that borders on the criminal to allow this to happen. I would think that its main customers, government workers, would be the first to shout and scream when this happens. It is their money that is going up in smoke. But they don't, because they're going to be fine. The pensions they receive are a defined benefit, meaning they'll receive the same amount of money no matter what happens to the PIC's investments. This is probably a very good thing. Workers should not suffer in their old age because, for example, Markus Jooste took everyone for a ride at Steinhoff. But it does mean that perhaps, just perhaps, someone gets to play with a huge amount of money without a huge amount of attention. It does look like the PIC is going to change slightly. There will probably be a new system to appoint its chair (since 2021, the law has been that the finance minister can appoint a deputy finance minister to the position of PIC chair). And I think there will be more demands for more transparency. We should all know how the PIC makes its decisions in the unlisted space. There are many advantages to being a colossus; you can take a lot of pain and keep trucking. But you are impossible to hide. And so we will always want to know what is going on behind the scenes. DM
Zawya
24-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
South Africa's state-owned PIC partners with UK DFI on African infrastructure
JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's state-owned Public Investment Corporation and UK development financier British International Investment have formed a partnership to boost investment in African infrastructure, the organizations said on Monday. Financial terms were not disclosed. The partnership will mobilize private capital in Africa at scale to expand climate funding and boost the rise of private credit as a new asset class, said Leslie Maasdorp, CEO of BII, the UK government's development finance institution. Under the memorandum of understanding, PIC, Africa's biggest fund manager, and BII will create a framework to jointly explore co-investment opportunities across Africa. Priorities include small and medium enterprise financing, financial inclusion, green economy transitions and infrastructure in countries in Southern, Eastern and Western Africa, PIC said. Investment opportunities will be considered on a case-by-case basis, a PIC spokesperson said in an email. Africa faces an annual infrastructure and climate finance gap of more than $100 billion, according to the African Development Bank. Many bilateral donors are pulling back due to domestic fiscal and political pressures. PIC manages three trillion rand ($166.72 billion) in assets. BII has an Africa portfolio of $5.6 billion. ($1 = 17.9940 rand)
TimesLIVE
24-06-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
PIC partners with UK finance institution on African infrastructure
SA's state-owned Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and UK development financier British International Investment (BII) have formed a partnership to boost investment in African infrastructure, the organisations said. Financial terms were not disclosed. The partnership will mobilise private capital in Africa at scale to expand climate funding and boost the rise of private credit as a new asset class, said Leslie Maasdorp, CEO of BII, the UK government's development finance institution. Under the memorandum of understanding, PIC, Africa's biggest fund manager, and BII will create a framework to jointly explore co-investment opportunities across Africa. Priorities include small and medium enterprise financing, financial inclusion, green economy transitions and infrastructure in countries in southern, eastern and western Africa, the PIC said. Investment opportunities will be considered on a case-by-case basis, a PIC spokesperson said in an email. Africa faces an annual infrastructure and climate finance gap of more than $100bn (R1.8-trillion), according to the African Development Bank. Many bilateral donors are pulling back due to domestic fiscal and political pressures. The PIC manages R3-trillion in assets. BII has an Africa portfolio of $5.6bn (R99bn).
