Radio Islam News Team – 20/01/2016

The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) says it will embark on a two day socio-economic strike over the new controversial pension reforms.

The union has called on all unionised and non-unionised workers to join it as it challenges what it has described as an insult to the working class.

Numsa general secretary Irvin Jim said that the union will submit a section 77 notice for a two-day strike against the retirement amendment laws and will call upon other unions and workers to join us those days.

Numsa and other unions including Cosatu have rejected the Tax Laws Amendment Act which seeks to encourage workers to save their retirement benefits, saying it took away the workers’ choice to spend their personal benefits as they will.

They were mainly opposed to a clause in the act which stipulates that all retirement savings accumulated after March 1 would have to be transferred into an annuity upon retirement, and only a third of the total could be withdrawn as a lump-sum.

However, labour analyst Tony Healy said the new laws were in everyone’s best interest, explaining the changes to Radio Islam’s Ml Sulaiman Ravat on Sabaahul Muslim this morning…

“The new pension laws in terms of the act, includes employees registered for pension, provident and retirement funds will be able to withdraw only one-third of their benefit” Healy said.

He added that workers in the public and private sectors are again quitting their jobs to cash in their retirement savings with just over a month before the recently retirement reforms kick in.

However, he said that when employees resign, they do not qualify for UIF (Unemployed Insurance Fund) even before the amendments come into effect.

In terms of the act, employees registered for pension, provident and retirement funds will be able to withdraw only one-third of their benefit, while the rest would be paid out monthly as an annuity until death.

With the current policy, workers are able to withdraw their entire benefit upon resignation or retirement, however this will soon be a policy of the past.

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