The Financial Services Tribunal has brought much-needed clarity to the position of statements made under section 112(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (CPA) and the implication under section 37D of the Pension Funds Act, 1956 (PFA). On 23 October 2024, the FST in the case of Nyathi South Africa (Pty) Ltd v
pension funds act
The duty of the Board in terms of section 37C(1)(c) of the Pension Funds Act (PFA) to trace dependents commences when the Fund is notified of the death of the Member
The High Court in South African Retirement Annuity Fund v Pension Funds Adjudicator and Another clarified that the twelve-month period within which funds are to trace dependants commences to run from the date on which the fund is notified of the death of the member and not on the date of death of the member.…
The in duplum rule does not apply to late payment interest on arrear pension fund contributions owed by participating employers
Since 2020, most retirement funds have been faced with a situation where participating employers have failed to comply with section 13A of the Pension Funds Act, 1956 (PFA), by either underpaying employer or member contributions or not paying at all. The non-payment of contributions attracts late payment interest in terms of section 13(7) of…
Automatic Payment Portal Systems cannot be used as a defence to pension interest claims
This blog was co-authored with Rory Scott, Candidate Attorney.
On 15 March 2023, the Financial Services Tribunal dismissed a reconsideration application, ruling that a fund cannot rely on a benefit being in the process of being automatically paid as a defence to a pension interest claim.
The non-member spouse filed a complaint on 12 May…
There is no direct access to the Pension Funds Adjudicator
The Pension Funds Act, 1956 (“PFA”) is the primary legislation regulating retirement funds. Section 30A of the PFA provides that any person who has a complaint as defined in section 1 “may lodge a written complaint with the retirement fund for consideration by the board, which must be properly considered and responded…