Way opened for claim of billions
THOUSANDS of Transnet pensioners achieved victory at the Constitutional Court yesterday when the court gave their claim to recover billions owed to pensioners the go-ahead.
In 2013‚ the 60 000 pensioners instituted a class action against the Transport Pension Fund‚ the Transnet Second Defined Benefit Fund and Transnet.
Their claim was based on a promise made to them in 1989 that they would receive the same pension benefits under a commercial entity‚ Transnet‚ as they did under the state entity that employed them until then‚ the SA Transport Services, and its two pension funds.
The promise was that the practice of annually increasing members’ pensions by at least 70% of the inflation rate would continue.
The pension funds kept the promise until 2002‚ when they failed to grant any pension increases beyond the minimum of 2% a year.
The pensioners had calculated that the debt owed to the two pension funds stood at R80-billion by March 2013.
However‚ Transnet filed an exception to the pensioners’ claims in the Pretoria High Court.
In 2016‚ Judge Francis Legodi upheld the exception filed by Transnet that the claim by the pensioners was vague and embarrassing.
Legodi said the claim did not contain sufficient particularity regarding who would decide the rate of the pension increase‚ who would benefit from the promise‚ the period that the promise would endure and if the promise was in perpetuity.
The pensioners’ applications to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal failed.
In his judgment‚ Constitutional Court Justice Johan Froneman said yesterday the material terms of the contract pleaded was that the old pension funds made a promise to all their employees and members that the funds would continue to increase their pensions as before.
“The pleaded contract is simple and straightforward, but its simplicity is elegant‚ rather than vague‚” Froneman stated.
“There is nothing vague and embarrassing that prevents [the pension funds and Transnet] from knowing what case they have to meet.” – TimesLIVE