Is it time to abolish the PIC?

Confronted with irreconcilable differences between the previous board and the CEO of the PIC, its governance arrangements have again come under the spotlight. But the idea that an “independent” rather than a deputy minister as chair of the PIC would solve the problem is to confuse symptoms for the underlying malaise. It is the investment mandate that matters. The National Treasury and the GEPF should take charge, with fiscal sustainability and long-run growth as the overriding imperatives. Governance reforms might help, but a better strategy would be to abolish the PIC altogether.