Ex-miners to receive long-overdue pension benefits

Cape Town - Special measures have been put in place to ensure that unpaid pension and provident funds reach former mineworkers within the greater Nelson Mandela Bay municipal area.

This follows a pilot project conducted within the region to collect information from ex-mineworkers who have still not received their pension and provident funds, after the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality asked the Financial Services Board to assist with several requests made by ex-mineworkers for assistance in receiving these pay-outs.

It was found that some former mineworkers have unpaid pension and provident funds dating back as far as the 1970s. Many ex-mineworkers also said they experienced numerous challenges in getting their unpaid benefits, including people who wanted money from them to assist in obtaining their pay-outs.

Apart from concern over the long time it may take for benefits to be paid out, a further complaint was that widows failed in the past to receive their deceased husband’s employment records from their previous employers.

The documents used to track and trace the ex-mineworkers' unpaid financial benefits included old pay slips, Chamber of Mines industry numbers, old dom pass ID numbers, provident and pension fund letters, old payslips and old TEBA mining company cards.

The pilot also highlighted the need for better integration of the support programmes available to former mineworkers, such as help with obtaining compensation for occupational health diseases like silicosis and tuberculosis.

As a result, an improved integrated process will now be rolled out in the major historical mine labour sending areas.

Under the auspices of the Special Presidential Package for the Revitalisation of Distressed Mining Communities, a workshop was held on June 24 to 26 which brought together representatives from various government departments and mining organisations and institutions.

This multi-stakeholder effort led to the establishing of a steering committee to ensure that former mineworkers receive the unpaid benefits due to them. The government, through the special presidential package chaired by Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe, has undertaken to provide the necessary pressure to bring about these pay-outs.