Good news: Eskom won’t be able to get their hands on our pension funds

It’s been a testing 48 hours of so for South Africans with one eye on their pension funds. It was suggested at the start of the week that a desperately-indebted Eskom would seek government approval to dip their hands in the retirement pot, which is estimated to be worth around R4 trillion.

The power utility is facing debts of up to R600 billion, and their credibility is currently in the bin. With the company running out of lenders who will do business with them, top economists predicted that they would soon turn their attention to public pensions.

Will the ANC take money from pension funds to support Eskom?

Thankfully, that all seems dead in the water. Cannon Asset Chief Investments officer Adrian Saville is one of many pension bosses who told eNCA that they would unilaterally reject any such proposal, as it would only serve to cheapen the value of a retirement fund.

Natasha Mazzone is the shadow minister for public enteprises. After going public with her concerns on Monday, she has since shared her delight with these latest developments, hailing a victory for common sense:

“The Democratic Alliance welcomes the fact that pension fund managers have rejected the ANC’s plans to channel private pension funds to Eskom. It came as no surprise that the ANC government is again looking at ordinary South Africans to foot the bill for its failures in managing the SOE.”

“The ANC under Cyril Ramaphosa seems determined to nationalise everything including land ownership, health care, the Reserve Bank and now pensions. Hard working South Africans should not be made to pay for the ANC’s ineffectiveness and corruption.”

Natasha Mazzone

ANC Manifesto hints at pension funding

Financial experts had their fears confirmed during the ANC manifesto launch on Sunday. One part of the document claimed they would “investigate ways of using portions of pension funds for socially productive investments”. Somehow, Eskom still manages to fall under that remit.

For the meantime though, South Africans can breathe a sigh of relief. Without the backing of pension fund managers, they face a nigh-on impossible task of making such plans work.