Gordhan makes a move to calm workers
- Published on 15 Jan 2016
- HR Pulse News Desk
Fin24 reports that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Thursday that controversial new retirement fund laws only applied to money saved from 1 April this year. “Anything you saved up to March this year is not touched. The old rules still apply,” Gordhan said at a post-Cabinet briefing.
He added that most workers would have to work between five to 15 years to reach the applicable threshold amount. Panic and anger set in among workers after it was learnt that President Jacob Zuma had signed the 2015 Tax Laws Amendment Act and the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Act into force. As part of efforts to force workers to save for their retirement and not withdraw savings for other reasons, the laws stipulate a limit on how much may be withdrawn when a worker resigns or is retrenched.
Labour federation Cosatu expressed outrage at the news of the laws having been signed and said: "These savings are part of workers' hard-earned salaries and should be accessible to the workers, as and when they need them, especially in the absence of comprehensive social security."
Source: SA Labour News
