Pensioned civil servants take government to court
Group cries foul over payouts
One of the country’s biggest class-action lawsuit against state pension funds will unfold next month.
More than 80 000 former Transkei civil servants are taking on the government over the way their pensions were transferred from the old SA fund to the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF).
The GEPF was started in 1996 but some civil servants have been paying towards their pensions since 1976 and their pensions were not integrated into the new system. The pensioners’ case will be heard in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on October 29.
One of the pensioners’ committee members, Thobile Ndabambi, said he had been working for the department of defence for 10 years but his pension payout only covered two years.
“There are many people who have been affected by this [and] who have died due to stress-related conditions.
“It seems as if the govern- ment does not care about our plight. We are not asking for any favours. We are simply asking the state to pay us what is due [to us], money that we worked for,” Ndabambi said.
The group claims the GEPF is in breach of their constitutional rights. They claim to have sustained damages and suffered prejudice due to the government’s mishandling of their exit from the Transkeian Government Service Pension Fund when they were incorporated into the GEPF.
Public service and administration minister Ayanda Dlodlo told journalists that as of May, there were 44 190 cases of unclaimed and unpaid benefits.
The Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA), which is responsible for administering pensions on behalf of the GEPF, said it had 26 919 cases of unpaid benefits amounting to R907.1-million, and R698.9-million from 17 271 cases of unclaimed benefits.
GPAA spokesperson Mack Lewele said: “We are unable to comment on the matter because it is before the courts.”