NBC pension fund faces freeze

NAMIBIAN Broadcasting Corporation staff risk having their pensions frozen after the state broadcaster failed to pay their contributions to the company that manages their pension fund.

understands that Retirement Fund Solutions (RFS) has given the NBC until the end of this month to pay outstanding contributions for its workers’ pensions.

The NBC owes RFS N$10 million for five months’ cover.

Although there was no official communication to the employees regarding the matter, a text message circulated among staff read that “it was announced that the pension fund has not been paid for the past five months”.

The message further stated that the NBC has been given until 30 September to pay up, while failure to do so would result in the pension fund being frozen, along with NBC staff funeral cover.

NBC staff, who declined to be named for fear of victimisation, said they were shocked to learn that their pension contributions had not been paid over to RFS, while the money was being deducted from their salaries every month.

One employee said she wants the NBC to tell her what happened to the subscriptions deducted from her salary ever since she joined the broadcaster.

“We have money being deducted from our salaries every month, but the money is not being paid over to the third party. Your contribution depends on the percentage you signed for. I contribute N$1 200 every month, so they must tell me where that money is going,” the employee stressed.

The pension subscription arrears are not the only obligation that has not been paid on behalf of employees as they say they have been receiving messages and letters threatening legal action over the non-payment of loans.

One employee said she had received a message that her loan repayment was in arrears by two months, despite N$3 000 being deducted from her salary every month to repay that loan.

A number of employees also said some of them had been denied home loans because NBC employees have in recent years developed a reputation of not repaying loans.

“The banks are starting to blacklist us because NBC employees have apparently become high risk clients when it comes to loan repayment,” an employee lamented.

The staff member said panic had gripped NBC employees since news of the pension freeze emerged.

A lawyer spoke, to said by deducting money from its workers but not paying that money over to RFS, the NBC could be considered committing fraud.

NBC chairperson Sven Thieme confirmed the pension fund issue to yesterday, and said a meeting was held to discuss the issue and various other matters. Another meeting will be held next Monday, he added.

“The risk is existing, and it is a growing concern by the day. But we are working tirelessly to make sure no worker is under risk,” Thieme said.

He added that the pension fund debt was part of a number of obligations which need to be met, and that there were various discussions going on to address the NBC’s financial woes.

understands that the broadcaster is also struggling to pay subsistence and travel allowances to employees, which resulted in certain projects not being carried out.

Thieme said while the NBC is making money, they are disadvantaged by the fact that they are under-funded.

NBC director general Stanley Similo also confirmed the pension fund issue, saying it was no secret that the corporation has been having financial difficulties.

“If it was not for the budget cuts, we would not find ourselves here,” he stated.

Similo explained that they were in communication with debtors regarding their financial challenges, adding that the NBC had a monthly pension bill of N$2,2 million and has not been able to pay that for five months. They could only pay part of the money some of the months, while skipping payments on other months.

“This is a funding problem, and the shareholder is fully aware of this,” he said.

He added that the NBC was also trying to make employees understand that because of underfunding, sometimes there was not even enough money to pay staff.

“While it may be reflected on the pay slip, it may not even be there in the first place. We are sometimes only given that amount the employee takes home,” he said.

last year reported that Thieme said the corporation used money deducted from employees for medical aid payments to keep the parastatal afloat.