The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) said it was ”appalled” to hear on Tuesday that its pension fund was being used to buy shares in Telkom.
Cosatu has always been opposed to privatising Telkom, and demanded a meeting of the trustees of the pension fund, and the cancellation of the controversial R6,6-billion deal.
The acquisition of Thintana Communications’ 15,1% stake in Telkom by the Public Investment Commissioners (PIC) was announced earlier in the day.
PIC will ”warehouse” the shares for six months, while the Elephant Consortium, a black economic empowerment company, raise the funds to take them over.
The PIC manages the pension fund for all public sector employees, the union said.
”This is a disgraceful misuse of a pension fund and Cosatu is demanding that a meeting of the trustees be convened as soon as possible to discuss the matter and will support the cancellation of the deal,” union spokesperson Patrick Craven said in a statement.
He said this information made Cosatu even more determined to campaign against the deal, which it has already slated as not true black economic empowerment because it would only benefit a few politically well-connected individuals.
”Cosatu is furious that the government is using workers’ pensions money to oil the wheels of an already discredited deal,” Craven said. – Sapa