Pension Fund Adjudicator implements stricter rules on retirement funds
Discussing monetary issues.
Pension Funds Adjudicator Muvhango Lukhaimane got full backing from the Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba after she implemented strict rules on retirement funds.
Gigaba wants those rules to be obeyed, he said in the 2016/17 annual report of the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator (OPFA), the Minister expressed concern that there were too many cases of funds being badly run or mismanaged.
“Such neglect of duty can be a life or death matter for beneficiaries that suddenly find themselves without financial support and are fated to live a poor life, whilst their breadwinner’s funds lie lazily in a retirement fund account; billions remain unclaimed in retirement funds,” the Minister said.
Gigaba highlighted how the poor are now vulnerable and unemployed due to the economy which affects the economic growth.
“The cost to the broader economy of a business collapse that costs working South Africans their retirement savings would be devastating.
“Thus, the OPFA must be praised for its efforts to protect the public and I am confident that things will continue to improve under the stewardship of Ms Lukhaimane,” said the Minister.
According to Lukhaimane, in a complaints Tribunal such as the OPFA, there existed the possibility that over time employees may get used to the complaints and to some extent be desensitised to the predicament of complainants as there were always complaints.
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“This has certainly not been the case with the OPFA. With every complaint that we receive, we are often confronted with the agony and despair of the complainant after having pleaded, to no avail, with the administrator, fund or employer to resolve their complaint.
“Thereafter, we consider the response from the fund, administrator or employer, which is often less than satisfactory and discourteous to the complainant.
“This inevitably means that the trust deficit between members on the one hand and funds, administrators and employers on the other, continues to grow.
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“In that respect, the OPFA awaits the implementation of the TCF framework as this will improve the levels of service for members of retirement funds,” she said.
Therefore, invest your retirement funds wisely so that you can make sure that as you spend the majority of your life working that you don’t suffer the burden of poverty when you go on retirement.
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