City Press reports that more than 3,000 former mine workers have launched a class action against a liquidator they have accused of being secretive about the R421.9m surplus accrued in their pension fund.  

The former workers of Palabora Mining Company (PMC) in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, have been fighting for at least 12 years to get their money after PMC’s pension fund was liquidated in 2005.  The PMC liquidated the fund following the introduction of the Pension Funds Second Amendment Act, which was aimed at ensuring that surpluses of pension funds were allocated equally to beneficiaries.  The gist of the copper mine workers’ claim is that the fund’s liquidator, Garth Barnard, who was appointed by the Registrar of Pension Funds, has not been transparent about the amount of surplus accrued, nor about how and when it will be distributed.  Tolie Mnisi, chairperson of the Palabora Pensioners’ Forum, said 3,133 former employees had come forward to claim what they were owed.  He also noted that 673 employees had died without receiving any payouts while the forum tried in vain to claim the money on their behalf.  In his affidavit in the Pretoria High Court, Mnisi said they wanted the court to review and set aside the calculation performed by Barnard, and that he must be ordered to recalculate the benefits to be paid to the beneficiaries.  

• Read this report by Sizwe sama Yende in full at News24

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