JOHANNESBURG - Brian Molefe, head of South Africa's biggest fund manager, will not renew his contract next month, ending a tenure of a lobbyist for black representation at an executive and shareholder level in companies where the fund had sizeble stakes.

State-owned PIC said on Friday that Molefe, who has been at the helm since June 2003, will step down at the end of April but the PIC has not given an indication about his replacement.

PIC -- owned by the South African government and manages civil servant pension funds wiith assets worth 787 billion rand as of March 31 2008 - hassizeable stakes in many of South Africa's blue-chip firms.

PIC is the biggest shareholder in MTN, Africa's largest mobile phone operator.

Under Molefe, it has backed foreign takeovers of South African heavweights, including Vodafone's takeover of Vodacom, the country's largest mobile phone operator last year.

Molefe was Deputy Director General of the National Treasury before joining PIC. There is no word on where he might head next.