Search on for 'missing' pension

2003-11-03 17:58

Pretoria - United States lawyer Ed Fagan led disgruntled South African workers in a march in Pretoria on Monday, claiming they had been robbed of pension money during the apartheid years.

In a memorandum delivered at the Union Buildings, the group of about 300 demanded government action to probe the matter.

At least R250bn in pension money was not accounted for, Fagan told reporters.

He is already acting for other purported apartheid victims in lawsuits against big business - litigation that does not enjoy the support of the South African government.

The protesters called for an independent inquiry into their missing pension money. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel should help find the truth or resign, said the protesters in their document.

They claimed to also represent people entitled to other apartheid reparations, and individuals who suffered from diseases caused by hazardous working conditions.

The group said: "All documents related to apartheid-era profiteering, wage discrimination, claims for occupational diseases and missing pension funds" should be released.

Fagan said the group intended taking legal action if the government did not respond within seven days.

Asked on Monday to explain exactly how the pension disappeared, he said the evidence was in the hands of actuaries and pension fund managers.

"But we know that this R250bn accumulated from the mid-70s to the 1994. The money was rolled over and ended up with the parent companies."

Many workers who lost their jobs during the apartheid years never received their pension money or unemployment insurance, Fagan said.

He estimated that this fate befell "hundred of thousands" of South African workers.

Among those taking part in Monday's protest was Dorothy Molefe, mother of Hector Peterson, shot by police in the 1976 Soweto uprising.

Fagan said Molefe would take the lead in a reparation lawsuit against Anglo American and Swiss banks.

"They will be sued for a conspiracy to control the production of gold and to exploit ordinary workers."

In their memorandum addressed to President Thabo Mbeki, the protesters accused the government of having ignored their plight for years.

In his farewell to the protesters, Fagan said: "If they don't owe you anything, bless them. But the truth must come out now."

- SAPA