David Masondo has resigned as chairperson of the Public Investment Corporation, days before a shareholder meeting at which Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana was expected to remove him and the rest of the non-executive board. In a statement issued on Thursday, Masondo said he was stepping down in the interest of the country, the PIC’s stability and the confidence of the millions of South Africans whose retirement savings the institution manages, while insisting that outstanding investigations be pursued in full rather than quietly shelved.
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The resignation caps a month of turmoil at Africa’s largest asset manager, which oversees roughly R3.6 trillion, equivalent to about $219 billion, mostly on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund. Chief executive Patrick Dlamini was placed on precautionary suspension on 14 July after a whistleblower report accused him of governance failures tied to a R411 million payment linked to Lanseria Airport shareholder Acapulco Trade and Invest. Chief investment officer August van Heerden was suspended alongside him, and six non-executive directors have since resigned, leaving the board severely depleted just as scrutiny of the institution intensifies.
The scale of the crisis, and Masondo’s position at its centre, reflects how unusual his departure is. South African law requires the PIC’s chair to be a deputy minister from the finance, trade or mineral resources portfolios, meaning no chairperson has previously been removed from the role in the institution’s history. Godongwana, who acts as the PIC’s sole shareholder representative, had given notice of a general meeting on 27 July specifically to vote out Masondo and the remaining non-executive directors, a move that would have amounted to an unprecedented rebuke of his own deputy.
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Whistleblower report against Dlamini submitted | June 2026 |
| Dlamini and Van Heerden suspended | 14 July 2026 |
| Six non-executive directors resign | mid-to-late July 2026 |
| FSCA opens governance investigation | 15 July 2026 |
| Godongwana notice of shareholder removal vote | 22 July 2026 |
| Masondo resigns as chair | 23 July 2026 |
| Scheduled shareholder meeting | 27 July 2026 |
| Related High Court matters heard | 28 July 2026 |
At the heart of the dispute is a decade-old PIC investment in Lanseria Airport, in which the fund extended roughly R333 million in loans and equity to BEE partner Acapulco. Dlamini commissioned a forensic review of the transaction by PwC, which he maintained was within his delegated authority and intended to protect the GEPF’s interests; the whistleblower complaint alleged he had exceeded his powers and failed to disclose conflicts tied to the matter. A parallel R900 million damages claim has been filed against Dlamini by Acapulco’s Kagiso Matjila over the PwC appointment, and Masondo has referred elements of the transaction to the Special Investigating Unit. Masondo specifically flagged the whistleblower report, the allegations against Dlamini, the Acapulco matter and related issues as items he wants pursued to a proper legal conclusion, noting several will be before the High Court on 28 July.
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The governance troubles extend beyond this single transaction. The PIC told Parliament earlier this year that it has committed about R67 billion to some 150 unlisted investments since 2003, with at least 78 reporting partial or total losses, a track record that has fed longstanding criticism dating back to the 2018 Mpati Commission of Inquiry. Godongwana had previously pushed for a slower, internal-audit-led review of the Dlamini allegations rather than immediate suspension, a disagreement that reportedly left him blindsided by the board’s late-night decision and hardened his resolve to reconstitute it entirely.
Masondo defended the outgoing board’s conduct as collective, good-faith and legally grounded, and said Godongwana had acknowledged he personally acted with integrity. His exit now clears the way for government to appoint a new chair and rebuild a board reduced to a fraction of its usual size, with the 27 July meeting still expected to determine the fate of the remaining directors.