The New National Pension Fund took effect on 01 March 2025. Every employee that joined the electrical contracting industry within the registered scope of the National Bargaining Council for the Electrical Contracting Industry from this date has to be a member of this fund. This means that all employees joining the industry now belong to the same fund. At the end of February 2025 this fund did not have a single member. A month later the National Pension Fund has more than 500 members.
The Board of Trustees consists of yours truly as Chairperson, Deon Van Deventer as Deputy Chairperson, Robert McAlpine, Dave Alcock, Darryl Whittaker, Edmond Phasha, Tony Van Niekerk and Michael Stratton. We will be appointing an Independent Trustee soon. Applications for this position close on 17 April 2025 and the successful applicant would have been appointed by the end of April 2025. We are looking forward to serving members and this fund to ensure that those that retire, will do so with dignity.
This is a young, fresh and clean fund and chances are good that the founding trustees would have retired by the time the first member reaches normal retirement age. We are going to leave this fund in the hands of other caretakers who must find a solid and credibly run fund. We will ensure that we get this fund to be ready to welcome those members that we will inherit from the existing regional fund as we continue in our quest to make employment conditions, at least as far as social security benefits are concerned, the same for all employees in the electrical industry in South Africa.
We want to make this Fund the cheapest run compared to the regional funds to ensure that as much money of the contributions that members make goes to retirement. We can only achieve the goal of maximising retirement contributions by curbing costs of participation in the National Pension Fund. We are committed to reaching this objective.
This Fund already offers attractive benefits in the sense that contributions and benefits are determined on actual wages as opposed to minimum wages. This means that the targeted pension would be reasonably and accurately calculated against real wages earned. If the actual wage of an Elconop 3 is R10 per hour more than the minimum wage, contributions will be based on the higher wage and the benefits payable will be based on the higher wages. This will boost both retirement benefits and the risk benefits.
We are aware that this benefit structure may result in employees in the same workplace belonging to different funds during the transitional period. This will be sorted out in the march of time.
We are looking forward to serving the industry and are delighted that we have been given the responsibility to be the founding members of the Board of Trustees of the National Pension Fund. We will give it the best shot we have.
Issued By: Mogomotsi Mark Mfikoe
National Director ECA(SA)
