A GAUTENG employer is accused of squandering his employees' pensions and then sending them on a wild goose chase.

In general, all employees in South Africa contribute to a provident fund so that they have an income when they no longer earn a salary. Their employers forward the money to the fund for them.

But at Supreme Bumpers Panel Beaters in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, the employer did not forward the money to the provident fund.

Daniel Khumalo almost had a heart attack when he found out that his boss did not forward his contributions to the fund administrators for the past eight years despite having deducted the money from his salary every month.

Khumalo's handwritten salary slips, which are in Consumer Line's possession, show that he has contributed a collective amount of more than R10,000 since 2004.

Khumalo said when he left the employment of Gert Brits in June, he was referred to the Motor Industry Bargaining Council (Mibco) to claim his contributions.

To his utter shock, the council had not received a cent from Brits and his son Glen Brits, the owners of Supreme Bumpers Panel Beaters.

Khumalo said he thought he would have something to live on while looking for another job, but a Mibco official told him that no contributions had been made for any of the Supreme Bumpers staff.

Doris Mazibuko has suffered a double blow. Her son died under mysterious circumstances and now she cannot claim his provident fund contributions because his employer had not forwarded his monthly contributions to Mibco.

Mazibuko's son, Sipho, 33, was a bachelor at the time of his death and he used to support her because she was unemployed she said.

Mazibuko said her son appointed her as his beneficiary before he passed away.

Last Monday she said she went back to Mibco after Gert Brits gave her a benefit withdrawal form to facilitate her claim.

"Once again I was turned back because the form meant nothing since no contribution was ever made for my son," Mazibuko said.

She said Gert Brits took advantage of her illiteracy. He gave her a withdrawal form with only her son's name on it. He did not indicate how much her son had contributed each month for the past seven years.

"I wasted money travelling from Newcastle to his office and he made me waste more money by sending me to Randburg in Gauteng knowing that there was no money there for me," Mazibuko said.

Michelle Scharnick of Mibco confirmed that there were 14 employees of Supreme Bumpers Panel Beaters registered with the fund, but nothing was ever contributed by or for them.

Scharnick said it was possible that the employer had chosen an alternative fund because there was nothing at their office.

Gert Brits said he did not do the finances for his company and his son, who was away on a tour, knew how the company's finances were handled. He said Consumer Line was asking him difficult questions.

"You are asking me questions I can't answer. "The company's auditor will be back on Monday, you can ask him all these questions," Gert Brits said.

His attorney, Carlo Swanepoel, said Gert Brits was not the owner of the company and that the employer was away.

Swanepoel said he would comment tomorrow.