Municipalities owe R1.4bn in staff pension contributions

More than half of the country's municipalities are behind in paying their employees' pension fund contributions.

- Jarryd Westerdale

The department of finance revealed this figure during a written parliamentary question and answer session from 6 November.

Alarmingly, the outstanding figure stated by the department would account for R5.4 million for every municipality in the country.

The question was posed by the EFF following the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein judgment ordering a Free State municipality to repay millions in unpaid contributions to pension funds.

In September, Mafube local municipality was found to have failed to transfer R38 million to the Municipal Workers Retirement Fund.

It had deducted the amounts from employees.