Durban - The Democratised Transport Logistics and Allied Workers Union (Detawu) is calling on the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) to act against all those who were implicated in widespread corruption and maladministration at the Private Security Sector Provident Fund (PSSPF) following a forensic investigation report by Ngidi Business Advisory that was made public by the Daily News last month.
Detawu Secretary General Vusi Ntshangase said the union had written to the FSCA on November 16th with urgency and wanted all those who unduly benefited from the fund to be legally pursued, including board members and service providers.
Independent Media’s investigations unit, who has access to the original report, learnt that the board appointed service providers who had inflated membership prices and who had poor experience in the industry, where they (the board) could have chosen companies with better track records and lower costs.
The report further exposed board members who were providing services to the fund, making millions, even though the PSSPF’s procurement policy prohibits it.
“We want all the board members who were in office at a time of occurrence of all the irregularities mentioned on the forensic report to be held jointly and personally liable and be barred from serving in any institution wherein they will be required to discharge fiducial responsibilities for they have proven incapable.
“We also want all those service providers who are mentioned in the report to have been inappropriately appointed to render services with the Fund to be terminated and that a transparent procurement exercise be initiated in the name of good governance and fairness,” Ntshangase demanded.
Detawu in its letter had also demanded that the FSCA provide the union with the forensic recommendation implementation status report within seven days, but FSCA had failed to do so after acknowledging their letter, giving the union no choice but to escalate the matter to their attorneys to pursue litigation against FSCA and all those fingered in the report.
“The FSCA has failed to oblige as per our deadline and we have since escalated the matter to our attorneys with a view to approach the high court on an urgent basis to compel FSCA to provide the required information.
“We will also be approaching the Hawks, Asset Forfeiture Unit, and the Public Protector, among others to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to recover squandered workers’ money,” he warned.
“We will not rest until those who have siphoned off workers’ hard-earned monies are brought to book. Security officers, among others, work long hours under incredibly harsh conditions, where their lives are often under threat, and they do not deserve to have their hard-earned savings misappropriated in such a manner. We will not stand by and watch while the fund coffers are ransacked in broad daylight.”
The FSCA had last month confirmed that they are in the process of monitoring the fund and will act against those involved.
However, Independent Media learnt that some of the board members and service providers are still very much active at the PSSPF.
The FSCA this week confirmed with Independent Media that Detawu did approach them recently and made reference to the investigation conducted by Ngidi into various allegations of impropriety at the PSSPF and requested an update on the investigation and steps that have been taken against implicated parties.
“The authority informed Detawu that it was not in a position to disclose any details of its regulatory action before its regulatory processes have been concluded,” the FSCA explained.
“The Authority also commenced with regulatory action against various parties in terms of section 26(4) of the Pension Funds Act, 1956 and section 167 of the Financial Sector Regulation Act, 2017.
“Affected parties were given an opportunity to respond to the allegations levelled against them, in accordance with the audi alteram partem (let the other side be heard) principle, which the authority is currently considering prior to making final decisions.
“The authority, at this stage, cannot disclose any further details relating to these proceedings, except to state that the matters are receiving attention.
“The fund remains under a statutory manager and he is managing some of the service provider issues,” added the FSCA.
Daily News