DA
The Democratic Alliance said it would be lodging criminal complaints against municipal officials in various provinces who have failed to pay over employee pension fund contribution.
Relying to a question by DA MP Samantha Graham this week the Finance Minister revealed that at least 23 municipalities were currently in default of pension fund transfers, five of them in the Eastern Cape.
According to the Parliamentary reply, they are Dr Beyers Naude Municipality, Sundays River Valley Municipality, Great Kei Municipality, Amahlati Municipality and Walter Sisulu Municipality.
Graham, who is also the Constituency leader for the party in the Beyers Naude Municipality, laid charges at the Graaff-Reinet police station on Thursday.
DA MP, Cilliers Brink, said as a result of the non-payment, about 1 600 municipal employees’ pensions have lapsed, and 64 employees are unable to retire because they are precluded from accessing retirement funds.
“Hundreds of millions in interest has also accrued on these outstanding pension transfers, effectively for the account of residents and ratepayers,” he said.
Brink said in terms of section 13A of the Pension Fund Act it was “a criminal offence for employers to deduct pension contributions from the salaries of employees and fail to pay these amounts to pension funds.”
He said the financial mismanagement of municipalities has dire consequences for municipal workers and residents, and those responsible must be held to account.
This past week, Graham, the party's constituency leader in the Dr Beyers Naude Municipality laid criminal charges at the Graaff-Reinet police station.
