IOL News reports that Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) Minister Nomakhosazana Meth says she will restore the powers of labour inspectors to enforce compliance by employers in paying over pension fund contributions within seven days of deduction from employees' salaries.

She was responding to parliamentary questions from EFF MP Omphile Maotwe, who noted that approximately 7,770 employers, including a large number of municipalities and companies in the security and cleaning sectors, had failed to pay over pension fund contributions deducted from employees’ salaries as of December 2023. She noted that the non-payment resulted in a pension debt of R5.2 billion, affecting over 31,000 workers and severely undermining the implementation of the two-pot retirement system. In her reply,

Meth said she was aware of the serious issue regarding failure by companies to pay pension fund contributions deducted from employees’ salaries. Meth explained that despite the provisions of Section 34A of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), labour inspectors were currently unable to enforce this section due to a 2003 Ministerial Determination issued under Section 50(1)(a) of the BCEA. Meth said the determination was introduced to prevent regulatory overlap with the Pension Fund Adjudicator (PFA). “My department is in the process of withdrawing the determination to restore labour inspectors’ powers, a proposal that has received the support of all Nedlac Labour Law Reform Task Team constituencies,” Meth advised.

She also said the DEL had introduced amendments to the BCEA aimed at clarifying the enforcement of unpaid contributions and eliminating jurisdictional duplication with the PFA, the CCMA and the Labour Court.

Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mayibongwe Maqhina at IOL News

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