FSCA orders ANC to catch up on R86m staff provident fund arrears

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has ordered the ANC Staff Provident Fund to catch up on R86 million arrears and to provide monthly updates to the 535 affected members on the status of their arrear contributions.

“The African National Congress, which is a participating employer in the Fund, has not met its obligations in terms of making regular retirement fund contributions into the Fund,” says a statement released by the FSCA on Wednesday.

The FSCA has imposed an ‘Enforceable Undertaking’ on the fund to force it to catch up on arrears at the rate of R10 million a month until the arrear contributions are extinguished.

No  further deductions from employee salaries either

The fund is also required to provide monthly confirmation to the FSCA that it is not making further deductions from employees’ salaries, and to report monthly to the FSCA on the status of the arrear contributions.

The ANC is also required to report on its adherence to fund agreement rules.

FSCA Commissioner Unathi Kamlana said: “The onus of ensuring that there are no arrear contributions, and to consider appropriate action if there are such arrears, remains on the trustees of a fund. Both employers and funds are reminded of the importance of treating their workers and members fairly by honouring their obligations as enshrined in various legislation.”

ANC staff have waged a noisy and embarrassing campaign against the ruling party over backlogged pay, which is battling to find funders to bail it out of its financial hole.

Salaries were reportedly paid for June this year, though there are reports that staff in some provinces are still waiting to be paid arrears, and the problem of intermittent pay has been going on for at least four years.

ANC staff members went on strike to force the party to settle salary arrears, even picketing outside Nasrec where the ANC held its sixth national policy conference.

There are also reports of former workers who had passed on, but whose families were unable to access the staff provident fund because the employer had failed to pay contributions for several years.