BusinessLive reports that according to the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), public servants need not fear that their pensions would be negatively affected by the spectacular crash of the Steinhoff share price last week.  

In a statement released on Friday, the GEPF said that as at 31 March 2017, the GEPF — through the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) — owned about R28bn in Steinhoff‚ about 10% of the shares of the company but 1% of the total assets of the fund.  Following a massive decline in Steinhoff’s share price‚ the GEPF’s investment was worth a little over R2bn by mid-morning on Friday.  The GEPF is valued at R1.8-trillion.  "The impact of … movement in the share price on the GEPF is significant but manageable.  As a defined benefit fund‚ the movement in the value of individual investments does not affect the benefits to members and pensioners.  Therefore, benefits to members and pensioners are safe," the statement indicated.  The GEPF added that, through the PIC, it was monitoring the situation.

• A short report by Kyle Cowan is at BusinessLive
• Read a short statement by the PIC at Moneyweb

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page