South Africa's PIC suspends CEO over Lanseria deal linked to billionaire Tshepo Mahloele's Harith

South Africa's Public Investment Corporation has suspended its chief executive and drawn a formal investigation from the financial regulator over a whistleblower complaint that questions his handling of a Lanseria Airport deal and his relationship with Tshepo Mahloele, the billionaire founder of infrastructure investor Harith General Partners.

The PIC board placed Patrick Dlamini on precautionary suspension on Monday under its whistleblower policy, with nine of its 11 members voting in favour. The board said the step was needed to give Dlamini space to respond to allegations of impropriety submitted last month and to allow a fair and independent investigation, stressing that it "does not, in any way, constitute a finding nor is it a pronouncement of any wrongdoing" on his part.

The scrutiny escalated quickly. On Tuesday night, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority said it had opened a formal investigation into the PIC under the Financial Sector Regulation Act, citing concern over governance, leadership stability and confidence in one of the country's most important financial institutions. On Wednesday, the PIC named chief financial officer Batandwa Damoyi as acting chief executive to steady the organisation.

The complaint centres on disclosure and conflict of interest. According to reporting by Daily Maverick and the Mail & Guardian, it alleges that Dlamini authorised a PricewaterhouseCoopers forensic investigation into the Lanseria transaction without an approving board resolution, and that he failed to manage potential conflicts relating to his previous involvement with Lanseria-linked entities and Harith. The PIC has previously rejected the suggestion that Dlamini acted outside his authority, saying he commissioned the review within his delegated powers to determine whether the corporation had protected the interests of its client, the Government Employees Pension Fund. None of the allegations has been tested or proven.

Mahloele is not accused of any wrongdoing. His connection to the matter is historical: Harith, the firm he founded, was part of the consortium that acquired Lanseria International Airport more than a decade ago, and its leadership has long included former PIC executives, a set of relationships that has drawn scrutiny for years without any finding against those involved.

Those overlapping histories are what give the case its sensitivity. Mahloele himself headed the PIC's Corporate Finance Division and its Isibaya Fund before leaving to build Harith, which was seeded with early capital from the PIC. Harith's chairman, Jabulani Moleketi, previously chaired the PIC while serving as deputy finance minister, and another senior executive, Thenjiwe Vanda, once ran the PIC's Fund of Funds unit. Dlamini's alleged prior links to Lanseria entities and to Harith sit at the heart of the disclosure questions now being examined.

The airport deal has generated a widening set of disputes. The matter traces to a R333 million investment and loan the PIC extended to BEE shareholder Acapulco Trade & Invest to acquire a 25% stake in Lanseria. PIC chairperson David Masondo, who is also deputy finance minister, has referred aspects of the transaction to the Special Investigating Unit following the PwC review, and a confidential version of that forensic report has since become public. Separately, businessman Kagiso Matjila has filed a R900 million High Court damages claim against Dlamini in his personal capacity over the appointment of PwC.

The PIC is no ordinary investor, which is what makes its governance troubles resonate. It manages about R3.6 trillion, roughly $221 billion, most of it the pensions of some 1.3 million government employees, making it the largest asset manager on the continent. Any question about how it discloses conflicts or handles investments touches the retirement savings of millions of workers, and the institution has faced repeated calls to strengthen governance since the Mpati Commission of Inquiry exposed serious failures in 2018.

Harith has grown into one of Africa's most prominent infrastructure investors. Founded by Mahloele in 2006, it originated the $630 million Pan-African Infrastructure Development Fund and has backed assets across the continent, including the MainOne undersea cable in West Africa, Dark Fibre Africa, the Henri Konan Bédié Bridge in Côte d'Ivoire, the Lake Turkana Wind Farm in Kenya and Lanseria itself. The firm manages more than $1 billion across several African countries.

Mahloele's wealth flows largely from outside Harith. He is the founder and chairman of Lebashe Investment Group, a Black-owned holding company whose most valuable asset is a stake of about 7% in Capitec, one of South Africa's largest retail banks. That holding has been worth in the region of $1 billion and rises and falls with Capitec's share price, placing him among the wealthiest people in the country. He built the position over two decades in private equity after starting out, by his own account, watching his father run an informal business in the township of Mamelodi.

The turmoil has reshaped the PIC's leadership in days. Alongside Dlamini's suspension, acting chief investment officer August van Heerden stepped down following a resolution by the pension fund, with fixed-income head Leon Smit named to the role on an interim basis. The Democratic Alliance has called for urgent parliamentary hearings.

For now, the case remains a set of allegations against a suspended executive, with Mahloele and Harith named because of relationships that predate the complaint rather than any conduct attributed to them. The FSCA investigation, the SIU referral and the internal inquiry will determine whether the disclosure questions amount to anything, and the outcome will bear on the credibility of an institution that safeguards the savings of millions.