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Namibia: TCL Workers March Over Pension Funds
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New Era (Windhoek)
29 July 2008
Posted to the web 29 July 2008
Catherine Sasman
Windhoek
About 50 former Tsumeb Corporation Limited (TCL) workers marched to the Ministry of Labour for a Rule 6 conference, which was postponed to 15 August, to enable respondents to file their replies on 30 July.
A committee of former and present members of TCL Pension Fund and the Workers Advice Centre, filed a labour complaint with the District Labour Court for the District of Windhoek concerning the "disappearance" of surplus pension funds amounting to N$116.9 million.
The group cited Momentum Group Limited, the Registrar of Pension Funds (Namfisa), Alexander Forbes Financial Services, and H.A.R. (Bob) Meiring as respondents.
According to Rule 6 of the District Labour Court, a pre-hearing conference should be held. This was arranged for yesterday, but did not take place.
Rule 6 provides a platform where the complainants and respondents can agree on certain terms prior to a court hearing and proceedings. However, in case of disagreement, the complainant could proceed as normal with court proceedings in the District Labour Court.
According to information provided by liquidator Meiring of the remaining capital of the TCL Pension Fund and Goldfields Namibia Provident Fund, to Namfisa, TCL operated a pension fund as of 1948, which was only for skilled workers.
From 1979, another class of workers joined in a separate class of members on the same fund. This separate class was referred to as the "No. 1 Plan", but was still under the umbrella of the TCL pension fund.
Over the years, indicated the information provided by Meiring, the TCL over-funded the TCL fund, which was then defined as a defined benefit fund until 1995.
"The employer at the time [TCL] experienced tremendous financial difficulties due to, inter alia, labour unrest. The pension fund then entered into an agreement with the union at that time, whereby the fund surplus would be distributed and the fund was converted into a defined contribution fund," the information states.
Gold Fields Namibia Pension Fund was created to accommodate "active members at the time and a closed fund was created to accommodate the pensioners".
According to the information, based on the agreement between the employer and the representative union, 20 percent of the actuarial surplus on the TCL fund would be credited to active members' accounts in the newly formed Gold Fields Namibia Pension Fund, and a further 20 percent would be credited to a general reserve in that same fund.
It was reportedly also agreed that any remainder of the actuarial surplus would be paid to the employer.
"Subsequent to the agreement with the unions and the rule amendment, the employer withdrew approximately N$117 million from the fund and the fund ceased to exist after the conversion. All member and pensioner entitlements were honoured in terms of the original defined benefit arrangements mostly due to favourable market conditions at the time preceding these transactions."
This money was then taken by the employer and reportedly largely used for the costs of the liquidation of TCL in 1998.
When Ongopolo took over, it established a new pension fund scheme, and when Weatherly International took over the mine, no notification of change in pension scheme of the participating employer has reached Namfisa.
Namfisa stated that there are people misleading the former TCL employees, and that these "so-called agents can access this non-existent surplus of the erstwhile TCL pension fund, upon payment of a fee to these so-called agents".
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The regulator cautioned members of the public and the workers of the mine not to make payments to these "so-called agents".
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