Another Venda pension pay-out in the offing?

The recent Constitutional Court judgement in the Nkandla saga to compel President Zuma to pay back some of the money used in the upgrade at Nkandla has been seen as a milestone judgement, effectively confirming that remedial actions of the Public Protector are legally binding.

This has been read by many as a victory, with many saying that it would serve a purpose well beyond the Nkandla case.

This has also renewed the hopes of the former Venda pensioners who had lodged a complaint with the Public Protector regarding pension benefits lost due to privatisation of the Venda Pension fund. Like the Nkandla saga, the remedial actions put forward by the public protector on 8 November 2011 could not be implemented by state departments, despite the deadline given as 30 May 2012.

The beneficiaries, believed to be more than 20 000, are waiting with anticipation and several meetings have been held by different organizations representing the beneficiaries.

Beneficiaries are full of praises for the Public Protector, whom they described as the saviour who is delivering them from the bondage of poverty. “We have suffered for a long time while our monies lay in government coffers. Now we need it as a matter of urgency with interest,” said one of the beneficiaries during a meeting in Thohoyandou.

Some have likened Madonsela "to a true Makhadzi who fearlessly challenged the resourceful South African government for their maladministration of the Venda Pension Fund."

Other beneficiaries said that it was the wish of the widows of the beneficiaries of the Venda Pension Fund that the Public Protector ensure that the remedial actions she recommended be implemented before her term came to an end in October 2016. "When the matter comes to finality, the echos of the song Dabalorivhuwa II will be heard all over the mountains and the valleys throughout the Republic of South Africa and beyond its borders,” said another of the beneficiaries.

When this would happen remains to be seen, but expectations are very high in this part of the country.

Date:10 June 2016

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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