Madam Chairperson, I must say that after what was, I believe, quite a momentous debate and vote, we are dealing with matters which may seem more mundane, but which I think also relate to some important rights that pensioners have. I would like once again to table before this House the second reading debate for the Transnet Pension Fund Amendment Bill, because this ends a long process and it is my hope that the House will support the Bill.
Members will recall that the basic changes being made to the Transnet Pension Fund Bill are the outcome of the protected negotiation and strike action earlier this year. In the first reading debate, the portfolio committee and I gave quite a bit of detail on the actual contents of the Bill, so I will not repeat that now. I will just take some time to remind us all of the origins of this piece of legislation.
The problem arose when we began to implement the restructuring of Transnet by moving certain entities off its balance sheet into separate entities. The particular issue arose when the process of transferring Metrorail to the Department of Transport commenced. The unions raised the point that it seemed unfair that when their members who'd been moved from one part of the public sector to another should be prejudiced in any way. Such prejudice particularly arose out of historically specific provisions in the pension dispensation in Transnet. This is quite a complex issue but it was agreed as part of the resolution of the strike that the matter would receive attention.
After very constructive negotiations the amendment Bill embodies the final solution to this problem. This essentially allows existing employees to move out of Transnet to another SOE or public entity, but to remain within the new Transport Pension Fund. Whilst this does create a new degree of complexity, and does not make for the most elegant arrangement between employees and the employer company, I believe it is a workable and fair solution to the problem.
It was, and I believe is, the view of some unions that the new fund should be opened for new employees entering those new SOEs or public entities. However, we were not prepared to accommodate this as it makes for a complex situation and creates unnecessary complexities and operational problems for both the enterprises and the future pensioners. I am quite clear in my mind that the implementation of this suggestion would not be in the best interest of either the SOE or the pensioners.
The hon member Peter Hendrickse, who chaired the sessions on the Bill of the portfolio committee, will provide more detail to the House on the excellent work that they have done on improving the Bill since the first reading debate. Let me just highlight one or two points: Firstly, the definition of "alternate employer" makes it quite clear that this applies to a specific situation relevant to Transnet and its employees, who moved to a location where the state is either a shareholder or the controlling structure as defined in the PFMA.
We are dealing with particular circumstances related to the current restructuring of Transnet. I stress this point as it is in no-one's interest to have overly complex pension funds. An insight into what I mean by complexity as found in the fairly detailed structure of the fund and subfunds that is dealt with in clause 4. This complexity is necessary in order to protect the interests of the enterprises and the employees. We can accommodate this complexity to meet the legitimate needs of employees in a very specific current and historical situation we find ourselves in now, but clearly this is not best practice model for the future.
I believe that we have protected the rights of existing employees through the amendment Bill. There have been no significant changes in regard to the second defined benefit fund. One positive note I have in regard to this second defined benefit fund is its improved financial position. As indicated by the CEO of Transnet, this will allow us to address certain real problems in that fund.
Let me conclude by once again thanking the portfolio committee for the hard work they have done and, in particular, the hon Peter Hendrickse for chairing the process. We were dealing with the pressure of time and an antiquated form of drafting. It is often much more difficult to start from something that is from another era when amending an Act than it is to start with a clean slate.
I know that the subcommittee put in many hours of work. It was a hard task for this time of the year and I would like to thank them for that. I would like to thank the CEO of Transnet and her team for their commitment to ensuring that the settlement condition of the strike was indeed implemented, and my thanks to the unions for their steadfast commitment to the interests of their members. It is my sincere hope that the House will support this amending Bill. Thank you.