Pension shame at Transnet has to be corrected

SA courts have been able to right egregious wrongs and to ensure justice prevails for the weak and those without a voice. The judicial system has also been proven to have the muscle to deal with those looting the coffers of government and parastatal companies.

Saturday Citizen hopes the judicial machinery begins to move to correct the abysmal tragedy which has befallen an estimated 50 000 pensioners of state-owned transport giant Transnet who have, for more than 15 years, seen their pension money being stolen from them.

According to a binding agreement made in 1989, when the assets of the then SA Transport Services were incorporated into Transnet, the company was obliged to top up pensions by 70% of the rate of inflation, plus 2% each year, as was the case in the years prior.

This promise was upheld until 2003, when all but the 2% annual payments were stopped. With inflation running at about 6%, this meant pensioners’ benefits were sliding back at the rate of about 4% a year. The pensioners’ lawyers claimed 80% of pensioners, based on 2013 figures, were receiving less than R4 000 a month.

Tragically, many of those pensioners died in penury, waiting for Transnet to do the right thing. It is thought that 30 000 of the original 80 000 claimants have died.

The Freedom Front Plus, which is pursuing the case on behalf of the pensioners, estimates that Transnet will lose R100 billion if the courts rule against it – and that is why Transnet is holding the country to ransom – because that could cause huge damage to the economy. That should not prevent basic justice, however.

The hope is prosecution authorities will bring to book those involved in dodgy contracts in Transnet.

The money lost there could have saved the lives of some pensioners.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.