Pension funds go missing

400 security guards demand answers after their company failed to make contributions to administrators

More than R1-million of provident funds owed to recently retrenched OR Tambo International Airport security guards are missing.

About 40 of the 400 guards laid complaints with the Pension Fund Adjudicator in Pretoria, after their contributions could not be accounted for.

Reshebile Aviation and Protection Services had been deducting about R300 a month from the workers’ salaries, which went to the Senpef provident fund, administered by WSM Employee Benefit Administrators.

The guards were laid off at the end of March. Their union, SA Transport and Allied Workers Union) Satawu, said their former employer had not paid their contribution for months. Satawu’s Zanele Sabela said: “We are actually very concerned about the missing contributions, we understand that they’ve been missing about 10 months.

“We are concerned that Reshebile is retrenching workers whose provident funds are missing and we are worried that workers might miss out. It shows that there’s financial strains if the company is keeping provident contributions to themselves.”

The company’s HR manager, Judah Mamabolo, who also served as a trustee at the affected provident fund, declined to comment yesterday.

“I’m not the appropriate person to speak. I cannot comment on those allegations, I’m not in a position to,” he said. I’m no longer a trustee of the fund.”

He referred Sowetan to the general manager, Andrew Parsuseman, whose phone was off.

Airports Company SA said it would comment today.

The guards descended on the company’s offices at Jet Park, near Kempton Park, on Tuesday seeking answers.

Sowetan has established that Reshebile employees had two provident funds, and those affected had joined the company, which also provided services at the ANC’s Luthuli House, after 2012.

Wanda Phiri, who has worked for Reshebile for six years, yesterday said: “Mamabolo admitted on Tuesday that there were outstanding contributions that they didn’t make to Senpef. He said the issue would be sorted out soon.

“What doesn’t make sense for us is that they have been deducting this money from our salaries and how will they sort it out after they have already served us with retrenchment letters on Tuesday.”

Lucky Banda, another worker, said the Pension Fund Adjudicator was their last resort to resolve this. “It doesn’t make sense how come this company failed to make contributions while it deducted our salaries every month.”

Another employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “We are not paid that much as security g uards, any cent that belongs to us counts. That’s why we want our money.”

‘ ‘ We aren’t paid much, any cent that belongs to us counts