Pension Funds Adjudicator Lebogang Mogashoa.
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A pension fund has been sharply criticised for delays spanning more than five years in paying out a death benefit, with the Pension Funds Adjudicator finding that beneficiaries were prejudiced by its failure to act with urgency.
“The fund’s response paints an image of passiveness, reactivity and lethargy,” said Pension Funds Adjudicator Lebogang Mogashoa, in a ruling against the Mineworkers Provident Fund.
The complaint relates to the allocation and distribution of a death benefit of R458,358.59 following the death of a fund member on 27 July 2020.
The complainant, who said she was married to the deceased in a customary marriage later registered after his death, told the adjudicator that the process had dragged on for years with little feedback from the fund or employer. She said the deceased had left behind three children, as well as one child with her.
The fund submitted that it was notified of the death on 31 August 2020 and began the process in terms under the relevant section of the Pension Funds Act. However, it said delays arose because Department of Home Affairs records still reflected the member as alive, and additional information from potential dependants was outstanding.
But the adjudicator found the fund’s conduct fell far short of its obligations.
According to the ruling, the fund only requested basic documentation six months after being notified of the death. Thereafter, its attempts to progress the matter were sporadic, with follow-ups recorded in June 2021, March 2022, September 2022, February 2023 and only again in July 2025.
“Over five years, the board’s lethargic approach amounted to little more than a handful of phone calls, leaving dependants prejudiced and potentially denied timely access to benefits that were rightfully theirs,” the adjudicator’s office said.
Mogashoa stressed that pension funds must actively trace and identify dependants, rather than waiting for them to come forward. According to the adjudicator’s latest annual report, most complaints are typically resolved within six months.
The board of a fund has to be proactive in locating the dependants, Mogashoa said, adding that trustees are required to investigate claims and ensure benefits are distributed without unnecessary delay.
The adjudicator found that the fund’s failure to meet these obligations had caused undue hardship to the complainant and other beneficiaries. As a result, the fund was ordered to pay interest of 15.5% on top of the death benefit, in addition to finalising the distribution.
The ruling comes against a backdrop of persistent delays and governance failures in the retirement fund sector, with complaints around benefit payments among the most common disputes handled by the adjudicator.
The Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator handled more than 10,000 complaints in the past financial year alone.
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