BusinessLive reports that some R30bn lies unclaimed from the pension and provident funds of former miners who worked under apartheid but never received their money, according to Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.
At the Smart Investments in Health conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday, Motsoaledi told delegates that the payment mechanisms for mining compensation and pension fund distribution had proved to be inefficient and that efficient systems were needed to standardise processes. Motsoaledi indicated that only 6,500 people had been compensated to the value of R220m so far, with about R88m of that going to foreign nationals. The money is due to 3.5-million workers in Southern Africa whom the health department says it is unable to trace. Some had not left their addresses and could not be found, Motsoaledi indicated. Mines compensation commissioner Dr Barry Kistnasamy said the unclaimed benefits were under a social protection fund. "This problem goes back many years and these are large amounts of money that are due to workers," he said.
- Read this report by Michelle Gumede in full at BusinessLive
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