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GEORGE NEWS AND VIDEO - The Civil Servants Pension Redress Movement (CSPRM) has raised renewed concerns about what it views as deliberate delays in addressing long-standing pension injustices affecting former government employees across South Africa and the former TBVC states of the Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei.
The members of the CSPRM's George branch held a peaceful picket outside the Western Cape Government building in York Street, George, on Wednesday 26 November.
The group called for urgent intervention in the pension redress programme administered through the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC).
They argue that thousands of former public servants, discriminated against under apartheid, continue to feel the financial effects of unfair pension calculations more than 30 years later.
According to Leon Prezens, treasurer of the CSPRM George branch, the movement believed progress was finally within reach earlier this year. In March, Parliament had convened a joint task team (JTT), including representatives of the CSPRM and former TBVC states, to compile a plan to address historic pension grievances.
The team collected the required data and reconvened after three months, hopeful their concerns were being heard.
For many former employees, this was the first meaningful indication that discrimination based on race, gender, disability or employment status would be formally addressed.
However, the CSPRM says the process has stalled. They accuse the JTT of using delay tactics and questioning claims already recognised in previous phases of the programme. About 50 000 of an estimated 500 000 eligible former employees have received compensation, yet the CSPRM claims the same institutions that facilitated those payments are now disputing previously accepted grounds for redress.
The movement alleges that the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), the Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA), the PSCBC, the Department of Finance and the Pension Funds Adjudicator are contributing to renewed delays and unnecessary obstacles.
This is especially troubling, given that R8.7b was allocated in June 2018 for pension redress payments and the GEPF manages an estimated R3t in assets, making it Africa's largest pension fund and the third largest globally.
The organisation says the state has a moral and legal obligation to ensure justice for the 'forgotten civil servants' who served under discriminatory conditions.
Many former employees, or their beneficiaries, are still awaiting compensation decades after democracy was instituted.
The CSPRM is calling on Parliament and responsible departments to urgently finalise the pension redress programme.
The Civil Servants Pension Redress Movement (CSPRM) pickets outside the Western Cape Government building in York Street, George. Photo: Marguerite van Ginkel
"Let justice prevail," Prezens said. "Let those who have been aggrieved, disappointed and forgotten finally receive what is owed them."
During an interview, Leon Prezens, treasurer of the CSPRM George branch, explains the challenges faced by thousands of former public servants still impacted by unfair pension calculations decades after apartheid. The video also covers the peaceful picket held by CSPRM members at the Western Cape Government building in York Street on 26 November, calling for urgent intervention in the pension redress programme administered through the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC).
Watch the video here:
The GEPF was contacted for comment with a detailed summary of the issue. The department requested that George Herald provide ID numbers, pension numbers and Persal (Personnel and Salary System) numbers for all the affected individuals, citing Popia and the need to protect personal information.
The newspaper cannot provide this, as the JTT has already submitted the information to the relevant stakeholders.
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