A pensioner’s plea has laid bare the rot in fund governance. Pension Funds Adjudicator Lebogang Mogashoa has gone hammer and tongs for a pension fund for its shocking failure of governance: a death benefit claim submitted in August 2017 has remained unresolved for nearly nine years.

The complainant, the mother of the deceased and a pensioner dependent on her son for groceries, medical expenses, and policy payments, has been left without relief. The fund’s board cannot even confirm whether a resolution to distribute the benefit was ever passed, nor whether payment was made. This inertia has now attracted not only judicial censure but also a punitive financial sanction - interest at 10,25% per annum, reckoned from 2 August 2018 until the date of payment.

The complaint was received on 25 June 2025. The deceased who was employed by Tosasmsp-Tosas (Pty) Ltd was a member of the Chemical Industries National Provident Fund from 1 July 2013 until he passed away on 26 April 2017. The deceased had a fund credit of R40 588.34.

The fund responded that upon receipt of the complaint, its administrator investigated and noted that the deceased did not reflect on their system. On 27 November 2025, the fund’s present administrator advised it had engaged the fund’s former administrators, Akani and NBC, to undertake an investigation to confirm if the deceased was on their system; the current status of the death-benefit claim; the outcome of any investigations conducted in relation to potential and/or newly identified dependants; and if the payment of the death benefit was made.

On 28 November 2025, Akani confirmed that the deceased did not reflect on its system; that a death-benefit claim was duly received by NBC on 2 August 2017; and that Ms Mokoena was appointed as executor of the deceased’s estate on 4 May 2017. Further, NBC received an email and confirmation of payment from Liberty, dated 22 August 2017, indicating that the death claim benefit in the amount of
R394 205.28 was paid to CINPF Raubex Group on 11 August 2017.

The fund submitted that NBC further advised that no payment was made from their system at the time because the distribution resolution authorising the allocation of the death benefit had not yet been received as at the date of handover to Akani.

The fund further submitted that is in the process of establishing whether the distribution resolution was ever made in 2017 in respect of this claim; and in the event that no resolution was made, the trustees will discuss the matter and resolve on how the death benefit allocation can be made.

The Adjudicator condemned the board’s conduct as being “severely deprecated”. He noted that the fund submitted an interim response on 8 December 2025 - almost nine years after the death - yet still could not confirm whether a resolution had been passed. Since then, the fund has failed to revert with results or a solution. The Adjudicator found this to display lack of urgency and accountability.

Reminding the board of the fund of its governance responsibilities, the Adjudicator emphasised that:

• The change in administrators (NBC, Akani, Momentum) is no excuse for the fund being unsure whether the benefit was ever paid.
• The board is charged with the governance of the fund in a way that complies with all applicable laws, including the legal requirements that require the board to ensure that proper registers, books and records (inclusive of minutes and resolutions) are kept.
• Delegation of any of the board’s functions to administrators does not absolve the board of accountability, and the duty to keep and maintain proper records applies to the board even when an administrator has been appointed.
• The absence of records such as minutes and resolution on the benefit in question suggests systemic failure to comply with statutory duties.

“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 to not 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.

He concluded that Ms Mokoena had discharged her burden of proof: on a balance of probabilities, the death benefit remains unpaid. In the absence of lawful justification, the fund must finalise its investigation under section 37C and distribute the benefit to dependants and beneficiaries.

Crucially, given the extraordinary delay, the fund has been ordered to pay interest at 10,25% per annum, calculated from 2 August 2018 (twelve months after the claim submission) until the date of payment. This punitive measure underscores the gravity of the board’s neglect and the prejudice suffered by the complainant.