LADYBRAND, Free State — A severe Free State pension crisis has engulfed the Mantsopa Municipality, leaving 65-year-old Roster Rasutha and dozens of retired workers without their livelihoods after the local government allegedly withheld over R4.8 million in retirement deductions. Following nearly four decades of public service, retirees are now facing starvation and mounting legal action as authorities scramble to recover the missing funds and address severe administrative lapses.
For Rasutha, the financial fallout is deeply personal and devastating. Having already extended her career by an additional five years specifically to boost her retirement savings, the 65-year-old now states she would prefer returning to the workforce rather than face starvation. Describing her expected “golden years” as a descending nightmare, she revealed that her household currently lacks basic necessities.
“I honestly don’t know how to feel because we don’t have anything in this house,” Rasutha shared, explaining that the months-long delay has prevented her from feeding her children. “This thing has affected us negatively because I was hoping to receive my pension so that I can feed my kids as we do not even have food.”
The distress is widespread among the municipality’s aging workforce, with the total arrears now sitting at over R4.8 million, a figure that includes more than R84,000 in accrued interest on late payments. A veteran employee who joined the municipality in 1988—totaling 37 years of service—expressed despair over unremitted contributions and the looming question of survival. The lapsed benefits have already resulted in profound personal tragedies, including one staff member who was recently unable to cover burial expenses for a deceased relative.
Another worker, now over 60, voiced feelings of betrayal, questioning why they must rely on their children for financial support despite having earned a pension. “I feel used by the municipality,” the worker stated, highlighting a stark contrast in work ethics by noting that rank-and-file staff labored tirelessly on the frontlines while senior officials worked remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to the growing outcry, a spokesperson for the municipal workers union confirmed that aggressive legal interventions are underway. The union has formally lodged cases with the Hawks, targeting both the municipality and its senior management for alleged violations of the Pension Funds Act. The union’s spokesperson is demanding an expedited resolution, insisting that all deferred salary deductions be immediately transferred to the respective pension funds to protect the workers’ rights.
Adding weight to the union’s stance, a legal expert emphasized that employers are strictly legally bound to remit deducted pension contributions. Failure to do so, the expert warned, exposes the municipality to severe criminal prosecution, including fraud charges. The legal expert advised affected staff to obtain up-to-date statements from their pension insurance providers. Should the statements reflect missing employer contributions, workers are urged to pursue criminal charges and escalate their grievances to the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator (OPFA), the official ombudsman for such disputes.
Addressing the administrative failure, a spokesperson for the Free State Department of Cooperative Governance (CoGTA) outlined a forthcoming financial remedy. The departmental spokesperson confirmed that the Mantsopa Local Municipality currently holds the R4.8 million in question and intends to settle the debt next week upon receipt of its equitable share allocation from the National Treasury.
Furthermore, the CoGTA spokesperson stated that the municipality’s accounting officer will be engaged to provide a full explanation. The department noted that such a lapse directly contradicts adopted municipal action plans and warrants a thorough internal investigation into how the failure occurred. The spokesperson also pointed to regional precedents, confirming that the neighboring Kopanong and Mohokare municipalities successfully navigated identical pension backlogs by establishing special payment arrangements with their respective funds.
Despite the ongoing crisis and impending financial injections from the National Treasury, representatives for the Mantsopa Local Municipality remained unavailable for comment.
