Pensioners get R178m bonus from Transnet

Pensioners will receive a cash bonus amounting to a total of R178m from Transnet this month. Image: Annakmi Free Digital Photos

The payment‚ which follows the R178m paid in November last year and affects members of the Transnet Second Defined Benefit Fund (TSDBF) and the Transnet Sub-Fund of the Transport Pension Fund (TTPF)‚ takes the total value of ad hoc bonuses since 2007 by the funds to R142m and R1.9bn‚ respectively.

The payments supplement the guaranteed statutory annual increases of 2% and mean each of about 67,000 pensioners and beneficiaries will be paid an ad hoc bonus equalling 8.33% of their annual individual benefit by the end of April.

But these amounts exclude the R448m in bonus payments by Transnet to qualifying beneficiaries‚ where widows of black former employees and those with long service and therefore no other income‚ were prioritised.

The payments are to help those who were excluded from joining or contributing to the pension funds because of South Africa's past apartheid laws.

According to Transnet both funds remain fully funded and will continue to retain their healthy financial position after the payment of the bonuses.