In terms of a sectoral determination issued by the Minister of Labour in 2001 any employee who falls within the definition of eligible employee as contained in the rules of the Private Security Sector Provident Fund (PSSPF) must become a member of the PSSPF. The attorneys for the PSSPF addressed a letter to all retirement fund administrators stating that “it has come to our attention that a few umbrella funds within the Republic, continue to house employers from the private security sector, in flagrant breach of the legislation and Rules”.
The letter among others contains the following statements:
- “It is unlawful for employers in the private security industry to unilaterally decline/ cease participation in the PSSPF. If the employer has not been granted an exemption from the PSSPF, alternatively, is not wholly compliant with the rules of the PSSPF, it cannot be a participant in your fund, and accordingly you may be held liable for said employer’s non- compliance, in terms of Section 37 of the Pension Funds Act, 24 of 1956.”
- “Should you fail to attend to the above request, or respond to this letter, within 14 days from the date hereof, and it is subsequently discovered that you are administering benefits on behalf of non-compliant private security employers, our instructions are to join you to all civil and criminal proceedings against the non-compliant employer, which legal costs will be for your account, on scale as between Attorney and Own Client.”
- “We have informed the Financial Services Conduct Authority of this compliance initiative, and we will be providing them with a list of all Section 13 B administrators who failed to co-operate in this exercise despite being in receipt of this correspondence.”