Pretoria - Victims who have allegedly been defrauded of millions of rands of their pension funds from the Great North Transport (GNT) Limpopo bus company marched to the Limpopo Provincial Legislature on Wednesday to hand over a memorandum to Speaker Rosemary Molapo.
Current and retired employees of the company are calling for Molapo to intervene and hold Premier Stan Mathabatha, Limpopo Department of Economic Development MEC, Thabo Mokone and Treasury MEC, Seaparo Sekoati accountable for over R300 million of their pensions going missing.
GNT, which ferries thousands of passengers to work and back daily, failed to pay their contributions to the administrators of the pension fund, or made short payments, for 17 years even though it had made monthly deductions from the employees’ salaries in breach of the Pension Fund Act (PFA).
The company is a subsidiary of the Limpopo Economic Development Agency, an entity of the Limpopo Department Of Economic Development and Tourism (Ledet).
Victims of the Great North Transport R300 million pension fund scandal march to the Limpopo legislature to hand over a memorandum to speaker Rosemary Molepo to hold government to account for the missing millions. @IOL #pension #pensions pic.twitter.com/qZx8PCCbRr
— Pretoria News (@pretorianews) June 1, 2022
Amongst their demands in the memorandum is the call to investigate the role of Mathabatha as being a shareholder of GNT and the disappearance of the pension funds.
The memorandum read in parts:
The Limpopo legislature to investigate the conduct of the Speaker and the chairperson of the standing committee on public participation and petitions.
Immediate calling for the Speaker to account to the legislature for failing to protect the Constitution of SA.
Immediate calling for the honourable premier of Limpopo, MEC for Ledet and MEC for treasury to account to the legislature on the liquidation and disappeared of the GNT provident/pension funds
The president to issue an SIU proclamation on the investigation of the collapse of GNT, corruption and mismanagement of GNT bus company.
Immediate release of the forensic investigation report (BDO,)
Immediate investigation of the board of trustees of GNT.
Investigate the role of MEC Ledet, his role as a board member of GNT and the current one as a shareholder.
Addressing the gathering, whistleblower Harry Masindi whose help was enlisted by the victims, said they were giving Molapo 72 hours to respond to their demands.
Masindi also said the group was also going to stage a sit-in a the ANC provincial conference expected to start at the Ranch, near Polokwane.
Molapo was unable to receive the memorandum but failed to send a representative.
Pretoria News