Social security won't happen in next 2 years

2/2/2012 1:00:00 PM

By Evan Pickworth The final answer on a social security system for SA won't happen in the next two years, says Leon Campher, CEO of the Association of Savings and Investment (Asisa) . "A paper will be released in the next month or two for a working engagement, but the final answer won't happen in the next year or two," he said during a media briefing on Wednesday. The proposed system will make it compulsory for South Africans to save for retirement, which should place less pressure on the state to do so if implemented correctly. However, the financial crisis of 2008 and the need for consulting industry lobby groups has seen the implementation delayed indefinitely, though some had held out the possibility of more concrete terms emerging during the Budget later this month. This now appears unlikely. The latest move by Treasury is to introduce incremental steps to implementation, with the latest discussion about making it more difficult for employees to cash in retirement funds when changing jobs. Campher painted a positive picture about the engagement process so far. "Government has engaged on an ongoing basis on social security. That doesn't say you always get what you want, but at least we are involved in the process," he said. Peter Dempsey, deputy CEO of Asisa, said social security was not only about pension provision, but also linked into the education system - jobs are critical to getting people saving - a review of housing policies and health security. "The challenge is to co-ordinate all of these things."

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