GEPF blames ’employer departments’ for delays as pensioner’s bills pile up

Destitute, on the verge of her vehicle being repossessed, her insurance policies having lapsed, a retired 60-year-old government employee, with 36 years and nine months of rendering public service with diligence, has been anxiously waiting for a year for her pension payment.

When Sponono Sibeko retired from the department of health last year, little did she expect the processing of her pension by the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), would take months, before being assured on Thursday that her money would be deposited into her bank account “within two to three working days” – thanks to an intervention by The Citizen.

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“It had to take the newspaper to hear me out and take up my cause with the GEPF,” said an elated Sibeko.

While the GEPF said it took 60 working days “to pay upon receiving correctly completed documents from the employer or the claimant in some cases”, Sibeko’s life has been reduced “to someone begging friends and former colleagues for money to buy food and pay creditors”.

GEPF spokesperson Matau Molapo has blamed the bungling and the long delay in paying out pensions timeously on “employer departments not sending correctly completed documents to the GEPF on time, with supporting documents”.

“Member tax affairs should be in order, information up to date – especially the banking details, because most members, when they change their banking details, do not inform the GEPF.

“Members should also ensure that there are no legal issues pending against their pension – like divorce, maintenance and departmental debt – as these legal matters have to be finalised first before a member can receive pension,” said Molapo.

On why the pension payment took an unusually long period, Molapo, who assured The Citizen that Sibeko’s retirement benefit would be paid “in the next two to three working days”, said: “The reason for the delayed payment is that the claim was rejected twice.

“This was due to incorrect salary periods, incorrect salary scales, with different termination rules having applied.

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“The employer department had to correct this information for the claim to be processed.”

The GEPF, said Molapo, has embarked on a public education drive, targeting government human resource practitioners, representing employer departments and members about to retire.

While happy at news of her imminent pension payment, Sibeko reflected on the “traumatic and emotional hardship I have endured”.

A public health educator, Sibeko was based at the Sedibeng East District, servicing various clinics, before taking early retirement, aged 59, submitting her supporting documents to the human resources department last year – forwarding them to the Gauteng Shared Service Centre (GSSC).

The GSSC, which approved Sibeko’s documents last May, held her application for six months, before dispatching to the GEPF on 16 March.

For Sibeko, “a long lull ensued, with me living from hand-to-mouth”.

“In December 2021, the last thing I remember getting was my last salary. I have been failed by my own government and feel so sad after having worked for so long in public service – at the end getting nothing,” said Sibeko.

“I cannot pay my car any more and I have borrowed money from people – my partner lent me more than R50,000 to run the house, another friend lent me R35,000, with the hope that my pension will come.

“My policies, including the funeral cover, have lapsed and my car no longer has an insurance policy. I have been surviving on handouts from friends and former colleagues.”

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