AS the highly anticipated Two-Pot retirement system officially kicked off on Sunday, 1 September, unions have voiced their views on the financial structure.
Workers who have retirement funds can now access their funds from R2 000 up to a maximum of R30 000 per year whenever they need the money. This was granted by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 21 July, to give people access to their retirement savings without having to resign or cash out their full pension fund.
Speaking to Daily Sun, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) spokeswoman Zanele Sabela said the union’s very excited about the commencement of the system.
“This is a good thing for workers because it gives them an option. As South Africans, we don’t have a culture of saving. This savings pot forces us to have savings for unexpected emergencies. We’re not encouraging members to withdraw the money for the sake of doing so. If they don’t need it now, they can save it for the following year,” said Sabela.
Beaming with pride, Sabela said it gives them pleasure as Cosatu to finally see their child being born.
“As Cosatu, we’re thrilled that after five years of working on the Two-Pot Retirement System relentlessly, it has come into effect. We had a vision, we followed it through, and now it has come to fruition. It gives workers an option,” she said.
She said it was Cosatu that first proposed the Two-Pot system after the union realised the hardships people faced during the hard lockdown.
“People found themselves without an income, not being able to work. They were supposed to receive a temporary relief employee’s scheme from the UIF, but it was strained. We recognise that people had no money at that point but had it in their pension fund,” she said.
She said workers were drowning in debt and had no option but to resign from their jobs so they could access their funds because it was the only choice they had.
“Because of the high unemployment rate, they would deplete all of their savings because they wouldn’t have work. They would continue living in poverty and eventually retire in poverty. That’s how this child was born,” she said.
Meanwhile, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) spokeswoman said according to the survey they conducted, most of their members expressed the desire to access part of the pension (77,5%).
“On the percentage to be accessed, 44% expressed a desire that the 10% proposed by the Treasury be increased to between 30% and 50%, while 23,8% of respondents opted for 20% to 30%, and 15,8% were categorically opposed to withdrawal,” said Cembi.