BL Premium reports that state-owned arms maker Denel has told its staff that due to cash-flow problems it cannot pay their April pensions, taxes and unemployment insurance fund (UIF) contributions.  

In a letter to staff, CEO Danie du Toit said the parastatal could run into a cash crunch in the next six months and paying salaries could become more difficult in future.  The manufacturer has paid staff their April salaries.  It had until early May to make their pension and tax payments, but missed that deadline.  It did manage to pay medical aid premiums to ensure staff could access private health care.  In his letter to staff, Du Toit indicated that the company was still awaiting a R576m injection promised in the February 2020 national budget.  The most immediate effect of the nonpayments is that the death and disability contributions have not been paid.  Trade union Solidarity’s Helgard Cronje said unions were called in on Wednesday and told there would be no payments to the SA Revenue Service, pension funds and UIF.  He said Denel had promised to ensure families who needed death benefits would not be affected by the nonpayment of the life insurance payments.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Katharine Child at BusinessLive (paywall access only)

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