A pensioner’s battle to claim her late son’s death benefit highlights severe governance issues within the Chemical Industries National Provident Fund, as the Pension Funds Adjudicator calls for accountability after nearly nine years of unresolved claims.
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A pensioner’s struggle to access her late son’s death benefit has exposed what the Pension Funds Adjudicator describes as a serious breakdown in pension fund governance, after a claim lodged in 2017 remained unresolved for almost nine years.
In a scathing determination, Pension Funds Adjudicator Lebogang Mogashoa criticised the conduct of the board of the Chemical Industries National Provident Fund for failing to properly administer and account for a death benefit claim submitted after the death of a fund member in April 2017.
The complainant, the deceased’s mother and a pensioner who depended on her son for groceries, medical expenses and policy payments, has yet to receive any relief. The Adjudicator found that the fund could not even confirm whether a resolution authorising payment of the benefit had ever been passed, nor whether the money had ultimately been paid out.
The deceased, who worked for Tosasmsp-Tosas (Pty) Ltd, was a member of the provident fund from July 2013 until his death on 26 April 2017. His fund credit amounted to R40 588.34.
The complaint was formally received on 25 June 2025. In response, the fund said its current administrator investigated the matter and discovered that the deceased did not appear on its system.
On November 27, 2025, the fund advised that it had approached its former administrators, Akani and NBC, to investigate whether the deceased had been captured on their systems, determine the status of the death benefit claim, establish whether investigations into dependants had been conducted, and confirm whether payment had been made.
Akani reportedly confirmed on November 28, 2025, that the deceased did not appear on its system, but that NBC had received the death benefit claim on August 2, 2017. It also confirmed that Mokoena had been appointed executor of the deceased’s estate on May 4, 2017.
According to the fund, NBC also received an email and payment confirmation from Liberty dated August 22, 2017, indicating that a death claim benefit of R394 205.28 had been paid to CINPF Raubex Group on August 11, 2017.
However, the fund said NBC had further indicated that no payment was processed from its own system because it had not received the distribution resolution authorising allocation of the death benefit before the administration handover to Akani.
The fund stated that it was still trying to establish whether such a resolution had ever been passed in 2017 and said that, should it emerge that no resolution existed, trustees would have to consider how the benefit should be allocated.
Mogashoa sharply criticised the board’s handling of the matter, describing its conduct as “severely deprecated”.
He noted that the fund submitted what it called an interim response on December 8, 2025, almost nine years after the member’s death, yet still could not confirm whether a distribution resolution had ever been passed. Since then, the fund has failed to provide any further outcome or solution.
The Adjudicator said this reflected a serious lack of urgency and accountability.
He reminded the board that changes in administrators, from NBC to Akani and later Momentum, did not excuse uncertainty over whether the benefit had been paid.
“The change in administrators (NBC, Akani, Momentum) is no excuse for the fund being unsure whether the benefit was ever paid,” he said.
Mogashoa stressed that pension fund boards are legally responsible for ensuring proper governance and maintaining accurate records, including resolutions and meeting minutes, regardless of whether administrative functions are outsourced.
He warned that the absence of records relating to the benefit pointed to a broader governance failure within the fund.
“Perhaps more concerning is the fact that the board’s conduct also implies that the fund’s records may not be kept in the manner contemplated by the Act.
“This is because the fund appears not to have, independent of the administrator, a record that indicates whether or not the benefit in the matter was paid. This failure to keep these basic records is at odds with the governance responsibilities imposed upon the board by the Act and other governance prescripts,” the Adjudicator said.
Mogashoa ultimately found that Mokoena had met the burden of proof and that, on a balance of probabilities, the death benefit remained unpaid.
He ordered the fund to finalise its investigation in terms of section 37C of the Pension Funds Act and distribute the benefit to dependants and beneficiaries.
In addition, the fund was ordered to pay interest at 10.25% a year from August 2, 2018, 12 months after the claim was first submitted, until the date of payment.
The punitive interest order reflects the severity of the delay and the financial prejudice suffered by the complainant, who has spent years waiting for a benefit that should ordinarily have been resolved within months.
PERSONAL FINANCE