Compensated from unclaimed benefit funds

THOUSANDS of former mineworkers have been paid more than R60 million in unclaimed benefits over a two-year period to date, the Mines 1970 Unclaimed Benefits Preservation Pension and Provident Funds said this week.

This comes after the Mines 1970 Unclaimed Benefits Preservation Pension and Provident Funds embarked on an initiative to trace ex-mineworkers or their families in a bid to compensate them for their labour contribution during the 1970s.

The funds’ combined tracing rate has since im- proved to identify 62% of the total number of missing beneficiaries.

The beneficiaries consist of 11 712 pension fund beneficiaries and 57 450 provident fund beneficiaries, in South Africa, Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Chair of the Mines 1970s Funds Sue Fritz said they were making progress in identifying and compensating beneficiaries.

“We have identified 73% of the pension fund beneficiaries and families of the deceased, and 60% of provident fund beneficiaries and families,” Fritz said in a statement. “We are extremely proud of our increased success rate which is due to expanded tracing initiatives.”

According to the Financial Services Board, billions of rand in unpaid retirement benefits are owed to former mineworkers from southern Africa. Mines 1970’s Provident Fund was established by the Chamber of Mines in 1970 for the those miners that were employed by its members.

There were various reasons for the funds remaining unclaimed, including worker complications in verifying the identity of ex-mineworkers, migration back to native lands, as well as ignorance of their contributions.

Tracing agents now make in-person visits to the homes of beneficiaries to help them complete application forms and obtain other supporting documentation.

Fritz said a further tracing initiative would start in May when the funds embarked on roadshows in selected areas.

“It has also meant the exclusion of dubious agents who purport to act in the best interests of beneficiaries, but charge exorbitant agency fees to submit claim forms,” Fritz said.

“We continue with secondary tracing; 32% of the deceased beneficiaries’ dependents have been located and provided with claim forms.” – ANA