CORRUPTION
Behind unions’ new caution on prescribed assets
Organised labour, which has championed the notion of prescribed assets for pension funds in the past, says that high levels of corruption mean that workers must be cautious about how their funds are used by the state. Labour federation and ANC alliance partner Cosatu, which has been at the forefront of the campaign calling for the imposition of legal requirements that pension funds dedicate a set portion of their portfolio to investment in the state, is now calling for caution on the adoption of the ANC proposal. In its manifesto, launched in Durban two weeks ago, the ANC said it would "investigate the introduction of prescribed assets on financial institutions’ funds to unlock resources for investments in social and economic development". Should the ANC receive a mandate during the upcoming elections and go ahead with this plan, the country’s savings pool could be used towards funding state-owned entities (SOEs) as well as housing and infrastructure. However, on Monday, Cosatu parl...
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