The visit by the Public Protector, Adv Thuli Madonsela, to the Vhembe region was eagerly awaited by community members who were desperate for better services.

“We hope the visit by the Public Protector will help to solve and bring back some of our pension funds allegedly robbed by the Government Pension Fund. We had our pension funds as former Venda government employees, back in 1992, but when our Venda government was incorporated with the national government in 1994, our pension funds were taken and incorporated in the national funds," said the chairperson of the  former Venda Employees Pension Fund, Mr Tshimangadzo Tshiololi.

Tshiololi was among the more than 300 former Venda government employees and hundreds of community members who gathered at the Thohoyandou town hall last Tuesday to present their case to Madonsela.

“We are also worried that, during November 2011, the Public Protector had issued a report regarding former Venda Pension Funds at it came in favour of us as beneficiaries to get our money back. On 23 January this year, we again met with the office of the Public Protector, who promised to solve our problem as matter of urgency, but nothing is coming into our pockets,” added Tshiololi.

Madonsela, who was on a four-day visit to Limpopo as part of Stakeholder Consultative Dialogue, told former Venda Pension Fund members that she would do all she could to have those affected's outstanding funds refunded back to them.

“It is true the matter of the former Venda Pension Fund is causing a serious problem for the affected people, but I am going to find out from the Treasury Department and the Government Pension Fund why these affected people are not being paid."

She also visted the Tshilidzini hospital near Thohoyandou, where she met nurses and doctors, who told her that the hospital’s building was old and dilapited. "We have shortages of nurses and doctors and these make services to patients very slowly. There are also shortages of medication in our hospital," nurses and doctors told Madonsela.