Retired policeman takes stand to highlight pension plight

A FORMER policeman who has still not received his pension almost a year after leaving the service, yesterday resorted to standing at a busy Port Elizabeth intersection with a placard to highlight his plight.

Ewan Kurten, 60 – who worked as a logistics officer in East London – stood at the top of the William Moffett expressway holding up a handmade sign which read: “41 years service, 10 months and waiting for pension. Thank you SAPS.”

He said he had not received his pension fund lump-sum or a monthly amount since leaving in June last year.

Kurten now lives with family members in Port Elizabeth.

“Since I went on pension I have been supported by my family. It is very humiliating to look into someone else’s eyes for support,” he said.

“I have given 41 years of my life to the SAPS.

“[I was] also a dog handler and had to make areas safe after bomb explosions.”

Kurten said that five months after he left the SAPS he was told that certain forms were outdated and had to be resubmitted.

Last month, he said, he was told his notch had been incorrectly detailed. His file was then rejected by the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) as the police still had to confirm his banking details.

Provincial SAPS spokeswoman Colonel Sibongile Soci said: “. . . there were also administrative matters which needed to be finalised before the file could be handed over to the [GEPF].

“There is also another personal matter which could also result in a delay while the file is at [GEPF], due to third-party involvement.”

But Kurten said he was not the only retired policeman waiting for his pension and his oneman protest was to raise awareness of this.

Theunis Heck, 42, of East London, resigned recently.

“I was told that by law it could take the SAPS anywhere between 30 and 60 days to pay out . . . but I am going into my third month now with no payout or medical aid,” Heck said.

Heck also relies on family members for financial support.