The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has expressed strong support for Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s decision to investigate the Government Pension Administration Agency’s (GPAA) controversial lease deal, valued at nearly R1 billion.
The GPAA, which manages the Government Employees Pension Fund on behalf of 1.7 million workers and pensioners, is alleged to have awarded the headquarters lease to a company that neither owns the building nor has access to it.
Cosatu spokesperson Zanele Sabela described the arrangement as deeply troubling.
“The building belongs to a JSE-listed company that has no intention to sell or evict its current tenants. As if this was not bad enough, GPAA has paid more than R200 million towards the refurbishment of the said building,” she said.
Sabela warned that such irregularities raise serious concerns about the safety of workers’ retirement savings.
“This is clearly a crude scheme to siphon off money, and it makes Cosatu very uneasy given the entity’s proximity to workers’ hard-earned retirement funds,” she added.
The federation has called for the investigation to be fast-tracked and for those responsible to face prosecution. “South Africans are beyond tired of corrupt officials being moved from one department to the next to evade accountability. Corrupt individuals must face the full might of the law,” said Sabela.
Cosatu stated it will closely monitor developments and looks forward to the GPAA’s appearance before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration to explain the deal.
VOC News
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