South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) says the time given by the National Treasury for municipalities to make outstanding contributions to pension funds is not enough.
This follows Treasury’s decision to hold municipal managers accountable for failing to comply with statutory obligations regarding workers’ deductions to their pension funds.
National Treasury gave a directive for outstanding contributions to be paid by the end of the 2024/25 financial year.
SAMWU General Secretary Dumisane Magagula says the time given is too short given the extent of the problem created by municipalities.
“Municipalities have been in this act of mismanagement of funds for a very long time. In Kopanong municipality for example, from the early 2000’s they have been failing to pay pension funds on time. So, giving them time ’till the end of this current financial year means that we are postponing the action against municipal managers for another six months. Meanwhile, municipal workers are going on pensions and they cannot receive their benefits. Their monies are misplaced and no one is running after the money that should be paid back to the municipal workers.”
