Pensioners to deliver petition to UN Of ices
MANZINI – Pensioners will deliver a petition to the United Nation (UN) Offices in Mbabane.
This was a resolution taken following allegations that their fund was stolen by government.
The Swaziland Pensioners’ Association (SPSPA) members, in a general council, were of the view that the categorisation of the Public Service Pension Fund (PSPF) as Category Aparastatals, had come at a cost to them.
Sibongile Mazibuko proposed a resolution that the pensioners should submit a petition to the UN offices for the world to see their dissatisfaction.
This resolution was welcomed by the meeting and it was agreed that a sensationalising exercise should be engaged for people to understand the need for the petition and how it affected them.
Increment
“Let us take a petition to UN Offices. This may need a mass meeting as minimising our increment could mean that at some instance we may get nothing despite that we worked hard for this money,” she said.
It was agreed that consultations should be engaged for a minimum of a week with other members so that they could submit the petition. Mazibuko’s resolution came after another member had questioned on how the international community could assist them in dealing with their challenge.
The pensioners said they were angry that government had turned their pension fund, with an estimated reserve value of E14 billion, into a fullyfledged government company.
The pensioners alleged that this was done to use their money willy-nilly.
Section 13 of the Retirement FundAct of 2005 stipulates that the Registrar of Retirement Funds, who happens to be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), should approve and endorse rules for the fund.
Reads Section 13(2): “No rules shall be of any force unless those rules have been approved, and endorsed by the registrar after consultation with the minister.” They said these rules were not adhered to when their Pension Fund was transformed into a Category A parastatal. According to the Public Enterprises Unit (PEU) Act of 1989, a Category A entity is a public enterprise or body which is either wholly-owned by government or in which government has a majority interest or which is dependent on government subvention for its financial support.
It further states that a category B enterprise is a body in which government has a minority interest or which monitors other financial institutions or which is a local government authority.
This, the pensioners said, was not supposed to happen and they wanted their pension fund to be altered back into category B as government did not have any stake other than to contribute what was agreed to, 15 per cent towards civil servants pension.
For 21 years, they claimed, there had never been any challenges with the fund when it was classified as Category B. In light of this, the pensioners were in unison that the fund was stolen from them and it was currently benefitting government more than them.