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IT group AYO Technology Solutions (AYO) said on Tuesday its chair Wallace Mgoqi has died, not long after it reached a controversial settlement with state-owned asset manager the Public Investment Corporation.
"His unwavering support for the group carried it through years of tribulation at the hands of repeated inaccurate media reporting was stoic, but ultimately, it took its toll," the company said in a statement.
"The shocking news was received on Monday night, 3 April and comes not long after the recent settlement between the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and AYO, which saw a long running battle settled amicably."
AYO, valued at R1.64 billion on the JSE, PIC reached a deal behind closed doors on March 24, abruptly ending a court case that still had at least two weeks to run. The company, however, gave some details of the deal on Monday, including that it had agreed to buy about a 5% stake back from the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) for R619 million and grant it two seats on its board.
READ | After sinking R4bn into AYO, PIC will get R619m back in new deal
Wallace, who joined the AYO board in 2018, was a champion of AYO’s broad based black economic empowerment mandate to transform the South African ICT sector, AYO said on Tuesday.
"Wallace was also a leading light in South Africa’s own transformation, with undeniable credentials of self-sacrifice and a desire to see South Africa justly and fairly through its transition from apartheid to democracy. It was these qualities and others that he brought to bear at AYO.
"A respected member of the judiciary, a champion of human rights and a keen business mind, Wallace was also very much a loving family man and a man of the people. Wallacedene in Cape Town is named after him for his contribution to the struggle."
