GroundUp reports that the Private Security Sector Provident Fund (PSSPF) is fighting 315 court battles against employers for failing to comply with rules and thereby putting the pensions of more than 80,000 security guards at risk.  

The PSSPF has more than 242,600 registered members, more than 2,500 of whom are not complying with the rules.   As a last resort, these companies are handed over to the fund’s attorneys, who either resolve the matter by agreement or through litigation.  The PSSPF said non-compliance by employers was "rife" in the sector.  Fund spokesperson Sindiswa Changuion indicated that more than 80,000 employees were affected by current litigation.  Most of the problems were employers not complying with the fund’s rules or with Section 13A of the Pensions Fund Act.  This included failure to pay contributions and failure to provide records.  Changuion said an average of over 100 cases were settled out of court every six months.  Employers often agreed to make arrangements to pay outstanding contributions.  Recent amendments to the Pension Fund Act allow for the directors of a company to be held personally and criminally liable for the company’s non-payment of contributions.  But, the PSSPF itself has also come under scrutiny from the Pension Funds Adjudicator for its "suspect record keeping".  

• Read this report by Barbara Maregele in full at GroundUp

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page