About 60‚000 Transnet pensioners have pinned their hopes on the Constitutional Court as they seek to proceed with a class action to seek billions from two pension funds.

On Thursday‚ the court heard their appeal against a Pretoria High Court order from last year.

Transnet pension fund recipients brought a lawsuit against the Transport Pension Fund and the Transnet Second Defined Benefit Fund and Transnet in the High Court last year.

The pensioners wanted the High Court to declare that the pension funds and Transnet had broken a “promise” made in 1989 before the South African Transport Services (SATS) became Transnet.

The promise was that the practice of annually increasing members’ pensions by at least 70% of the rate of inflation would continue.

The pensioners claim that since 2003‚ the funds’ annual increase to their pension was significantly lower than what they contend was promised.

They want Transnet and the pension funds to pay the arrear increases to the pensioners with interest.

In the High Court last year‚ Transnet and the pension funds raised objections to this claim. They claimed that there was a failure to identify the terms of the promise made by Transnet.