16 Sep 2024

The annual countrywide Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) member address is an important platform that allows the fund to engage with members.

The fund chief executive officer, Mr Moemedi Malindah said when addressing members in Kanye on Thursday.

 He said the engagement gave the fund time to update members on the state of the fund as well as to receive feedback from them, adding that it was crucial that members were kept abreast on the activities of the fund.

The pension fund’s chief finance officer, Ms Kegaisamang Dire said in the 2023/2024 financial year the fund recorded growth in its different components.

Regarding member contributions, Ms Dire said the fund had recorded 11 per cent growth as compared to the 2022/2023 financial year, saying in the year under review BPOPF had received P4.65 billion compared to P4.17 billion in 2022/2023.

She attributed the growth to the filling of vacancies in the public service as well as to the increment of employee salaries by the employer.  

On the performance of the fund’s investment activities, Ms Dire said they had recorded a 217 per cent growth from P4.62 billion to P14.65 billion in 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 respectively.

She, however, stated that the fund’s operational costs had also grown from P214 million in 2022/2023 to P242 million in 2023/2024, which marked a 13 per cent increase.

Ms Dire said the fund had also recorded growth in its net assets from P9.75 billion to P13.89 billion, and that it was a 235 per cent growth for the financial years 2022/2023 and 2023/2024.

Chief investment officer, Mr Tshephang Loeto said while the fund was duty-bound to keep members aware of its activities, they too had the duty to be informed, which should compel them to have interest and to actively seek information on the performance of the fund.    

He noted that within the fund, members were divided into categories depending on whether they were still employed or were pensioners, with the former being categorised into active, Tshomarelo member choice portfolio or pre-retirement switch.

He explained that the active category covered employees who still had time before approaching retirement period, while Tshomarelo covered those who were only five years away from retirement, and that three years before retirement members would then be moved to the pre-retirement switch.

He said pensioners were divided into ‘with profit and without profit’ categories, with the first option allowing a member to earn grow depending on the performance of investment activities while with the latter, a member’s monthly payments were fixed for life.

Chief legal officer, Ms Kwenantle Otukile said since 2022 the law had a provision for deferred members to withdraw from their pension to cover medical expenses for chronic illnesses and to settle loans, including mortgages.

Ms Otukile said to benefit from the dispensation, the member ought to have been unemployed for at least six consecutive months and should have no other means of settling their debt, with their pension being the last resort. She added that a member could benefit only once through the provision.

Commenting, a member, Mr Katlego Mokgadi requested for the fund to avail to members information on where it had invested so that they could keep an eye on the performance of such companies.  

Mr David Mothibedi, who wanted to know if any additional contributions that members could choose to make towards their pensions would form part of their one third withdrawal at retirement, was informed that there was no provision for treating the additional contributions any different from the rest of a member’s pension.

Mr Shini Sethukge asked if members paying income tax while in active service and from their monthly pension payments was not equal to double taxation, but was informed that while still contributing towards their pension members’ salaries were taxed only after the deduction of pension contributions. Ends