Today's Labour News

The Star reports that a Lesotho retired mine worker has accused Metropolitan of trying to trap him in South Africa after the financial services firm allegedly “refused” to give him the rest of his savings.  

Johannes Moleleki, 65, has been planning to go back to his home country for some time following his retirement, but his dispute with Metropolitan has kept him in SA.  He claims that Metropolitan is denying him access to his R250,000 pension monies because “the South African law was against” his request to have all his money cashed out at once.  The man from Orange Farm, south of Joburg, came to SA in 1973.  He opened a life cover policy with Metropolitan and approached the company in 2018, after his retirement, and made a request to have all his money cashed out so he could move back home to Lesotho.  Moleleki did receive a lump sum of R113,000 and now receives R1,800 monthly of the remaining R250,000, which is deposited into his Absa bank account.  “We don’t have Absa in Lesotho.  That means I will have to come here every month to withdraw money and go back to Lesotho: where am I going to get the money for transport?, he remarked.  However Metropolitan said it was honouring its agreement with Moleleki to provide him with life insurance as well as an annuity income.  Metropolitan’s Ronita Basson indicated that Moleleki purchased a compulsory annuity, the objective of which was to save for retirement and to receive a regular income once retired.  She added that by law only a third of money set aside for retirement could be paid out as a lump sum, while the rest of the funds must be paid out over time to provide the client with a regular income.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Yethu Dlamini at The Star

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