Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has appointed Naheem Ebrahim Essop as a deputy pension funds adjudicator.
The appointment is for a term of three years and is effective from the date of assumption of duty, which is expected to be August 1.
The Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator (OPFA) was established in terms of the Pension Funds Act.
The OPFA is required to dispose of complaints lodged in terms of Section 30A(3) of the Act in a procedurally fair, economical and expeditious manner.
Essop holds a Bachelor of Laws degree and is an admitted attorney. He started his career as a candidate attorney in 2004.
Thereafter, he practised as an attorney from 2006 to 2015.
He then joined the Financial Services Board (now the Financial Sector Conduct Authority) as a specialist analyst in the Pension Funds Department in 2015, where he worked until 2020.
Essop is currently a senior legal adviser at the OPFA. He is an alternate member-elected trustee of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority Pension Fund in which the OPFA participates.
He also serves as the OPFA deputy information officer, registered in terms of the Protection of Personal Information Act.
“Minister Godongwana would like to congratulate Essop on his appointment to this important position, which is crucial in contributing towards the integrity of financial markets and institutions, and the fair treatment of customers by retirement funds and all other stakeholders in the industry,” the Finance Ministry notes in a statement.