Please find attached soundbite by Andrew Bateman MP.
Acapulco borrowed R333 million from the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), defaulted on the loan, and yet ended up being paid more than R432 million by the PIC.
The DA has formally requested that Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance urgently reinstate its postponed hearing into the PIC, with the Acapulco debacle among the matters requiring scrutiny.
DA Finance Spokesperson Kingsley Wakelin MP has asked that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, former PIC Board Chairperson David Masondo and PIC CEO Patrick Dlamini attend in order to give a full account.
In 2013, the PIC advanced Acapulco R333.25 million to acquire a 25% stake in Lanseria Holdings. Acapulco defaulted when the loan matured in 2023. Following arbitration over the value of the shares securing the loan, the PIC paid Acapulco R411 million. A subsequent PwC investigation reportedly identified serious failures, including apparent double-counting in the valuation and weaknesses in the PIC’s arbitration case. Six days after Acapulco had certified that the arbitration award had been settled in full, the PIC reportedly paid Acapulco a further R21 million.
The matter has been referred to the SIU, but this cannot substitute for accountability to Parliament.
The DA wants answers on exactly what happened, who will be held accountable, and how lost funds will be recovered. We are also demanding the release of the PwC report.
Government employees and pensioners deserve to know how a defaulting borrower ended up receiving more than R432 million from their asset manager, and who will be held accountable.