Sanlam confirms R2.1m still owed to former Bosasa staff

Sanlam has confirmed that more than R2.1m remains to be paid to eligible former Bosasa employees. At least 1,004 former Bosasa workers are members of the African Global Operations Provident Fund administered by Sanlam and remain eligible for benefits.

This comes after 4,500 former employees raised concerns about years of waiting for money following the company’s liquidation in 2019, with some citing recently received payments from Sanlam ranging between R1,000 and R20,000.

The former services and facilities company secured billions of rand in lucrative government contracts ― principally with the correctional services department ― before collapsing into voluntary liquidation in 2019 amid an industrial-scale state capture and corruption scandal.

Sanlam head of communications Mologadi Makwela said 187 claims had been processed, resulting in approximately R342,000 being distributed to date.

A further R2.188m remains to be paid to eligible members. “Claims are processed on an ongoing basis as and when members submit completed benefit claim forms and the required supporting documentation,” she said.

Makwela said the current distribution constitutes the final settlement of benefits from the provident fund. “No further distributions will be made to members,” she said.

Makwela said the payments were calculated by the fund’s valuator and allocated according to a methodology determined by the fund’s actuary.

“All members participating in the liquidation were treated equitably in accordance with the benefit allocation methodology determined by the fund’s actuary,” she said.

However, she stressed that former Bosasa employees should not assume that all outstanding claims fall under Sanlam. “The Bosasa group contributed to several retirement funds, not all of which were administered by Sanlam,” she said.

Makwela said all claims from the pension fund had been finalised, with certain benefits transferred to the Unclaimed Benefits Fund.

She said some former employees may need to approach that fund directly, with final liquidation payments being processed manually.

“Once a fully completed claim form and all required supporting documentation have been received, it may take up to eight weeks for the claim to be finalised and payment to be made,” Makwela said.

The payment dispute comes against the backdrop of wider questions about the Bosasa liquidation, which followed the closure of the group’s bank accounts and reputational pressure after evidence concerning Bosasa was presented at the Zondo commission.

Former executive and whistleblower Angelo Agrizzi stated that the group was commercially and factually solvent, but that it had been unable to continue trading after its bank accounts were closed. However, a voluntary liquidation was unnecessary, which he tried to stop.