[I know John Redfern. He has done amazing work for old people who fled from Zim. But now, their pensions are not being paid out any more. He can be reached at: [email protected]. Please spread this around. I doubt the S.African Govt actually gives a damn about these old people. Jan]

The plight of thousands of Zimbabwean pensioners living in South Africa – most of whom have received no pension for over a year – will be raised by a new body formed to lobby at national and international level.

Many of the pensioners now live off the charity of family and friends. Most thought they had made adequate provision for their retirement, until they fell victim to Zimbabwe’s economic nosedive.

The pensioners’ case has been fought in the past few years by the Flame Lily Foundation of South Africa, but its efforts have met with limited success.

The foundation’s honorary national secretary, John Redfern, said it had become clear that a new body was needed to give attention to the urgent needs of the pensioners.

Live off the charity of family and friends
“We estimate there are 13 000 to 15 000 Zimbabwean pensioners living in South Africa,” he said. “Most of them don’t like to speak about their situation, but we know that many are desperate.”

Redfern said many of the pensioners – or their widows – were now in their 70s and too old to find jobs in South Africa.

He said his organisation had recently decided to form the Zimbabwean Pensioners Association in a bid to find solutions to the problem.

The association’s first priority would be to gather a data base of all Zimbabwean pensioners living in South Africa.

It would also make further approaches to the Zimbabwean government in an effort to get pension payments resumed.

Pay-outs had been blocked
“We have already asked the South African government to lend the necessary foreign currency to Zimbabwe, so it can pay the pensions.

“We will also appeal to an organisation in the United Kingdom that is helping pensioners in Zimbabwe. We will ask them to also help Zimbabwean pensioners in South Africa.”

Redfern said almost without exception there had been no pension pay-outs from Zimbabwe since last March.

Pay-outs had been blocked by the Zimbabwean Reserve Bank because of the shortage of foreign currency.

“The first cut in pensions came in January 2001, when the National Railways of Zimbabwe said they could not pay because they had no foreign exchange.

“Later that year the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe issued a directive that forex could be made available only for essential items. It seems pensions were not regarded as essential.”

Redfern said many pensioners had then received “sporadic” payments until early last year. “It seems there are also administrative problems, besides the lack of forex. Even pensioners in Zimbabwe are not getting regular payments.”

Redfern can be contacted at 012 460 2066.

This article was originally published on page 4 of Tribune on July 25, 2004

Source: Independent Online (IOL)
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click…/p>