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General Secretary of the Federation of Unions of South Africa Dennis George has denied any wrongdoing after he was placed on special leave pending a probe into his acquisition of shares in AYO Technology Solutions.
George said he was only facing "allegations" and had already answered questions put to him by the federation.
"I have answered some of the questions I have been asked… they [Fedusa] have a right to conduct the investigation as required by the law.
"But I must state these are just allegations. They are baseless," said George.
'Nonsense'
According to an article by amaBhungane, George may have benefited personally from the AYO deal via Difeme Holdings, which is associated with George and reportedly received pre-listing AYO shares at R1.50 a share. The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) acquired the AYO stock at R43 a share.
George said he was considering legal action against amaBhungane over the report.
An independent member of the AYO board, George said another claim against him was that he received R900 000 in share dividends from the company.
"That is nonsense. The truth will come out," he said.
On Wednesday, Fedusa said it had appointed an independent investigation team to look into the allegations, stating that its structures never gave any instruction for the acquisition of shares on unions' behalf.
The investigators are expected to present their findings on February 25, which would be used to determine the federation's next step in the matter.
The process of AYO share acquisition has featured prominently in the commission of inquiry into the PIC, with allegations that the asset manager, which manages R2trn worth of investments, did not follow due process when it injected funds into the company controlled by businessman Iqbal Surve, ahead of its listing on the JSE in December 2017.
Fedusa and its affiliates have spoken out against allegations of corruption in the PIC and earlier called for its board to be disbanded over graft claims at the asset manager.
