West Coast Pelagic Fishers
Supplementary Pension Fund
The West Coast Pelagic Fishers Supplementary Pension Fund (WCPFSPF) assists more than 500 retired former pelagic fishermen and -women with a supplementary pension of between R1 056 and R3 079 each, depending on their years of service and most senior position held in the pelagic fishing sector.
The West Coat Fishers Co-operative also assists close to 500 seagoing pelagic fishers with a yearly contribution of R2,700 each for medical expenses not otherwise covered through their employers or medical aids.
The West Coast Fishers Co-operative again has as its ONLY source of income, a dividend received from its fully owned subsidiary Tiradeprops 153 (Pty)Ltd.
Tiradeprops is a commercially active fishing company with a Pelagic fishing quota for anchovy and pilchard and had been in an exclusive joint venture with Oceana / Lucky Star for the past 15 years.
Supplementary Pension (non-contributing fund)
- To members who joined the Pelagic Fisheries industry before October 1988.
- To members who joined after October 1988, but before 1 January 2007 and had left the industry whilst the member must have at least 10 years of service to qualify.
West Coast Fishers Co-operative
The Co-op exists for the benefit of its members and not for private gain. The members are those active and retired pelagic fishers who had been active in the pelagic fishing industry for at least 10 years and had done a once-off purchase of shares (R400). Shareholders enjoy benefits of:
- Annual dividend
- Active medical support
- Fourteen years of pension assistance
All funded by the income derived from the harvesting and sales of anchovy and pilchard in an allocated right.
To acquire shares in the Co-operative
- The member must be a Pensioner and a member of the Supplementary Pension Fund or
- The member must be an active Pelagic Fisherman / woman.
Medical Assistance Fund
This is an annual Medical Contribution to members who are actively fishing with the quantum of the contribution based on the tonnage of fish caught on the member’s watch during the previous book year. For example, in the case for the year 2020, awards are made to fishermen who were actively catching fish during the 2019 season.
Pensioners do not qualify for the medical assistance because their benefit is paid out as a pension.
The skipper / bookkeeper provides the Co-op with the tonnage information that each crew member caught during the season. The crew members who caught the most fish out of the total crew on the boat (9, 10, 11 men) are entitled to an award.
The grant can only be used for Medical expenses.
2021 New Business
and Management Vision
The Co-op, Pension Fund and Tiradeprops are under new management.
Dynamic, Transformed and Visionary
VISION:
- To be the role model of sustainable employee benefits for industry, nationwide
- To grow existing Pensioners Benefits through increased business efficiencies and turnover.
- To grow the Pension Fund & Medical Cover to all Pelagic Fishers on the West Coast & in South Africa (2021 540 Fisher Pensioners & 460 Active Fishers) to all who qualify
Vision Execution:
- New Public Officer in charge of operations:
- New Board of Trustee’s focused on governance and transformation
- Investment commitment to business success
- Growth orientated Investment Strategy
Vision Commitment
January 2021
Weskus Vissers Koop purchases 75% share in boat owning company MFV Atlantic Enterprise Fishing
- Owns the means of fishing,
- Manages quota fulfilment
- Controls revenues
- Increases employment
- Supports Saldanha Industries and Communities
Leases new Co-op and Pension Fund offices in Main Street location
- Administration efficiencies
- Beneficiary centric – Focus on easy access for improved pensioner support
February 2021
Renegotiates long term relationships
- JV term with Oceana / Lucky Star to catch a portion of the Anchovy quota
- JV term with Pioneer Fishing / Glenryck to purchase the balance of the Anchovy quota and catch and purchase the Pilchard quota
Funds generated from the sale of Pelagic Fish (caught & sold by Tiradeprops) gets paid to the Weskus Vissers Kooperasie, which in turn is distributed through dividends into the Pension Fund for onwards distribution to its members. If funds remain after membership benefits are paid out, then bonuses are paid to each member of the Co-op – directly increasing the monetary benefit for members.
Contributions and payment
Supplementary pensions from the Fund are paid to qualify members from age 60 for a period of 14 years. The Fund is therefore paying pensions to members older than age 60, but also has a big group of members under the age of 60 who will start to receive their pensions from age 60. The trustees of the Fund grant annual pension increases to ensure that members’ pensions increase over time and keep at least track with inflation.
The table below shows the increases granted by the Fund over the recent years:
|
Increase date |
Inflation |
Increase granted |
% of inflation |
|
1 Jan 2008 |
6.7% |
6.0% |
90% |
|
1 Jan 2009 |
13.0% |
6.0% |
46% |
|
1 Jan 2010 |
6.1% |
5.0% |
82% |
|
1 Jan 2011 |
3.2% |
8.0% |
250% |
|
1 Jan 2012 |
5.7% |
8.0% |
140% |
|
1 Jan 2013 |
5.5% |
8.0% |
145% |
|
1 Jan 2014 |
6.0% |
7.0% |
117% |
|
1 Jan 2015 |
5.9% |
8.0% |
136% |
|
1 Jan 2016 |
4.6% |
8.0% |
174% |
|
1 Jan 2017 |
6.1% |
8.0% |
131% |
|
1 Jan 2018 |
4.7% |
8.0% |
170% |
|
1 Jan 2019 |
4.9% |
8.0% |
163% |
|
1 Jan 2020 |
4.1% |
8.0% |
195% |
|
1 Jan 2021 |
3.0% |
8.0% |
266% |
|
Average |
5.8% |
7.4% |
128% |
It is very important to note that is through the special contributions to the Fund by TiradeProps that the Fund has been able to provide these good increases that are well in excess of inflation over the recent years. These special contributions are made possible by the quota rights awarded to TiradeProps for this purpose.
The contributions made by TiradeProps to the Fund over the last 10 years are as follows:
|
Date of employer contribution |
Contribution (R) |
|
January 2010 |
1 058 000 |
|
February 2011 |
1 260 000 |
|
September 2012 |
2 400 000 |
|
September 2013 |
2 200 000 |
|
December 2013 |
350 000 |
|
November 2014 |
3 750 000 |
|
December 2015 |
2 040 000 |
|
November 2016 |
1 660 000 |
|
December 2017 |
4 100 000 |
|
December 2018 |
2 500 000 |
|
December 2019 |
2 665 600 |
|
December 2020 |
3 200 000 |
|
Total |
27 183 600 |
The current monthly pension amounts paid by the Fund to the different categories of members are as follows:
|
Date employer contribution received |
Pension per month (1 January 2021) |
|
Category of member |
R |
|
“Skipper” |
3 079 |
|
“1ste Drywer en Stuurman” |
1 321 |
|
“2de Drywer en Stuurman” |
1 091 |
| “Dekman” | 1 056 |
The Fund has paid a total of R27.7 million of pensions to members over the last 12 years.
The Fund currently pays 215 pensioners monthly and a further 700 members will benefit in future years from the supplementary pensions provided by the Fund.