The mineworkers pension fund has been sharply criticised for its prolonged delay in distributing death benefits to dependants, with Pension Funds Adjudicator Lebogang Mogashoa condemning what he described as a passive and sluggish approach that left beneficiaries without their rightful financial support for years.
In a determination issued on 6 May 2026, Mogashoa rebuked the Mineworkers Provident Fund for failing to act with urgency after the death of one of its members on 27 July 2020. A death benefit amounting to R458,358.59 had become available for distribution, yet more than five years later, the allocation process remained unresolved.
The complaint was brought by a woman who said she had been married to the deceased under customary law, although the marriage was only formally registered after his passing. She indicated that the deceased had left behind four children, including one child they shared. Frustrated by the lack of progress, she accused the fund and the employer of failing to provide updates or meaningful feedback despite her repeated attempts to follow up.
In response, the fund argued that it had initiated the process in terms of Section 37C of the Pension Funds Act shortly after being notified of the death on 31 August 2020.
However, it claimed that complications arose when its system reflected that the deceased was still listed as alive by the Department of Home Affairs, prompting it to wait for the official status to be updated. The fund also maintained that it had requested necessary documentation and was still awaiting crucial information from potential dependants, including the complainant.
Mogashoa, however, found the fund’s explanation lacking and its conduct deeply troubling. He pointed out that despite being informed of the death in August 2020, the fund only requested basic documentation six months later, in March 2021. Thereafter, its efforts were sporadic and infrequent, with follow-ups occurring only a handful of times over several years.
“The fund’s response paints an image of passiveness, reactivity and lethargy,” Mogashoa stated, emphasising that the board had failed in its duty to act proactively. He stressed that Section 37C places a clear obligation on pension fund boards to actively trace and identify dependants, rather than waiting for them to come forward.
According to the adjudicator, the fund’s minimal efforts over a five-year period—amounting to little more than occasional phone calls—had prejudiced the dependants and potentially denied them timely access to benefits that were legally due to them. He concluded that the delay was unreasonable and constituted a failure to fulfil basic fiduciary responsibilities.
As a result, the fund has been ordered to pay interest at a rate of 15.5% on the death benefit, in addition to the original amount. The ruling serves as a strong warning to pension fund trustees that delays and administrative inefficiencies will not be tolerated, particularly when they affect vulnerable beneficiaries who rely on such funds for financial support following the loss of a breadwinner.
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