DBNLM pension fund still in default

Update

KAROO NEWS - Municipal workers are still up in arms about the fact that Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality remains in default with the settlement of its pension fund debt.

This debt accumulated after the municipality failed to pay over the pension fund contributions deducted from the municipal workers’ salaries to the relevant pension fund since September 2019.

On 8 August members of the municipality had a meeting to discuss the matter, while disgruntled members of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) gathered outside the municipal building to demonstrate their discontent. It was expected that the municipality would have a meeting with them that same afternoon to present the new payment plan, but the meeting was postponed until further notice.

Previous commitments

There have been numerous commitments on the part of the municipality to settle the pension fund debt in full, but it is alleged that these commitments were never honoured.

When National Treasury wrote to the municipality early in October 2020 and requested settlement of the outstanding debt, Municipal Manager Eddie Rankwana committed to settle the amount in full by 15 December 2020, but allegedly failed to do so. At the time DA MP and Dr Beyers Naude Constituency Leader, Samantha Graham-Maré, managed to establish that the outstanding debt amounted to an estimated amount of more than R25-million.

Subsequently, on 24 February 2021, an agreement was reached between the trade unions, SAMWU and IMATU (Independent Municipal Trade Union) and the Municipal Manager in terms of which the amount of R10-million would be paid over to the pension fund before the end of that week. Since the overdraft that the Municipal Manager and the Chief Financial Officer attempted to secure from FNB in Cradock was apparently not approved, this never happened.

The municipality managed to make some payments and it is alleged that the arrear amount as on 8 September 2021 was R16-million. The Advertiser managed to establish that the arrear amount on 30 June was R27 255- million. This, despite the fact that Mayor Willem Safers stated earlier this year that they have a plan in place for the settling of the debt and that good progress has been made to resolve the situation. At the time Graham-Maré said that she is horrified that Safers can find any justification for this. "It is reprehensible to deduct money from staff salaries with the implied understanding that you will comply with the law and pay over the money within seven days of deducting it, and then not do it. For over two years." The staff are terrified that their years of pension contributions will be lost and that they will be left destitute when they retire." And you defend it," said Graham-Maré.

Criminal case

On 10 December 2020 Graham-Maré opened a criminal case against Rankwana for the municipality’s failure to pay over the workers’ contributions. At the time she stated that non-payment of pension fund contributions by employers to the pension fund is a criminal offence. The case has since been referred to the Specialised Commercial Crime Unit (SCCU) in Gqeberha for investigation but according to Graham-Maré there has been no feedback from them for months.

The investigating officer at the SCCU, WO Wayne Francis, explained that the case was referred back to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) after the prosecutor who was assigned to the case transferred to East London. They are now awaiting the assignment of a new prosecutor by the NPA who needs to indicate whether they should follow the same directive given by the previous prosecutor.

Airfield sold

According to the workers a commitment was made to them that the Graaff-Reinet airfield will be sold to generate money to pay off the pension fund debt. They believe that the airfield has been sold and that the money was available but never paid over to the pension fund. According to a reliable source the airfield has already been sold for R15- million plus VAT.

However, a portion of the airfield to the value of R1-million belongs to SANParks who will now be approaching Parliament for a proclamation to separate that portion from the park before signing if off to the municipality. No money for the sale of the airfield has been received to date.

A request for more information regarding the sale of the airfield has been submitted to the municipality and their response will be published as soon as we receive feedback.

Public participation

The sale of the airfield again raises questions around the issue of public participation. On 22 February 2021 a legal notice was issued by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) on behalf of the Service Delivery Movement (SDM) – a community-based organisation representing members from Graaff-Reinet, Nieu- Bethesda, Aberdeen, Jansenville, Klipplaat, Steytlerville, Willowmore and Rietbron regarding the municipality's intention to dispose of 12 municipal properties.

The 12 properties that the municipality intended to alienate included, among others, the Urquhart caravan park, the Palms (old municipal swimming pool), the Botanical Gardens, the golf club, the airfield, the brick fields, and the quarry in Graaff-Reinet.

The notice in terms of which the public was invited to submit comment before 11 January 2021 was published on the municipal website on 11 December 2020. However, the SDM believed that the municipality contravened sections 17 and 21(1) of the Municipal Systems Act of 2000 by not making use of any other platform to create public awareness and thereby failing to put in place systems to enable community participation in the decision-making process.

Following this, many stakeholders raised concern around the alleged lack of public participation insofar as the alienation of the 12 identified properties were concerned.

Meeting

The Advertiser was informed that the meeting between the municipality and the workers that was postponed on 8 August has still not been conducted and that the matter of the pension fund payments remains unresolved. No date for the proposed meeting could be confirmed.

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