The 65-year old, Klass Ruiters, went on retirement in April 2018 and has since been denied access to his pension by the Free State Pension Fund - like many other Kopanong retired employees. Ruiters, who worked for the municipality for over 30 years, says the pension fund informed him that Kopanong failed to pay over it and his pension fund contributions for five months, despite deducting money from his salary. 

The retired employee and his wife, Idah Zumani, reside in Edenburg and have on several occasions approached the municipality for assistance. Zumani says they have been told the municipality simply does not have the money, but plans on sorting the matter out in due course. Zumani told OFM News, her husband is frustrated by the situation, and they do not know if the cash-strapped municipality will settle the outstanding contributions.
 
She says her husband is not very expressive and keeps most of the things that bother him to himself, but she has observed that he has become depressed from the situation, as they are unable to pay off some of his bills, including insurance, due to the delay.

The municipality is yet to comment on the matter.
 
OFM News’ previous report indicates that Ruiters is not the only employee who is unable to receive his pension money until the municipality sorts out its matters. In June, members of the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) in Trompsburg led a march against the municipality’s alleged failure to pay pension fund contributions to the tune of millions over a 14-year period. 

Samwu provincial chairperson at the time, Dumisane Magagula, told OFM News they believed R 56m was deducted from employees’ salaries, but was never paid over to various Pension Funds.  The municipality later reached an agreement with SAMWU to pay over medical aid contributions to the tune of R 4.1m as a matter of urgency. 

They further committed to take 40% of the municipality’s equitable share of revenue raised nationally and pay it over towards pension and provident funds. He says they will focus on paying over the contributions of retired employees and those near retirement first.

OFM News