The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes the arrest of Northern Cape’s Ubuntu Local Municipality Mayor, Cheryl Jantjies, in relation to contravening the Pension Funds Act as well as the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).
Jantjies was in office in the period between February 2020 to September 2025, during which Municipal Manager, Synthia Levona Itumeleng and Chief Financial Officer, Randile Jacobs Shuping, allegedly withheld/delayed third-party payments deducted from municipal workers’ salaries. This included workers’ contributions to the Consolidated Retirement Pension Fund.
The delayed payments attracted interest, which was never paid despite repeated reminders. The outstanding interest eventually accumulated to a R200 000. The debt was recently reduced to R100 000, but the horse had already bolted, because according to Section 13A of the Pension Funds Act, employers must pay over pension fund contributions in full to the fund within seven days after the end of the month.
As the accounting officer, Jantjies is responsible for overseeing the proper running of the municipality, and as this happened under her watch, she has also contravened the MFMA.
Jantjies appeared briefly in the Richmond Magistrates Court on Friday shortly after her arrest by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team. She was granted bail of R2 000 and will be back in court on 20 August, where she will be joined by Itumeleng and Shuping.
COSATU is pleased that issue of withheld pension fund contributions is finally receiving the attention it deserves and that perpetrators are being brought to book. In September 2025, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) put the number of employers who default on paying over workers’ pension fund contributions at 15 521, jeopardising the financial futures of almost 600 000 workers.
Municipalities were among the top three defaulting sectors along with private security and the automotive sector. Worse still, in some municipalities workers go for months on end without even receiving their salaries.
Withheld pension fund contributions and salaries are among the grievances COSATU’s militant Affiliate, South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) will be highlighting during its National Day of Action on Thursday, 9 July, when it will march to National Treasury offices in Tshwane.
The Federation stands 100% in solidarity with SAMWU and will take to the street to support its Affiliate and municipal workers who have borne the brunt of the worst treatment by employers.
Issued by COSATU
Zanele Sabela (COSATU Spokesperson)
Mobile: 079 287 5788 / 077 600 6639
Email: zaneles@cosatu.org.za