- The Adjudicator found that the Mineworkers Provident Fund failed to act promptly in tracing dependants and allocating death benefits.
- A widow and four children were left waiting for years for a death benefit of R458,358.59 after the member’s death in July 2020.
- The fund was ordered to pay 15.5% interest on top of the death benefit due to its unreasonable delay.
A widow and her children waited for years for a death benefit payment after the Mineworkers Provident Fund failed to finalise the allocation and distribution of money owed following a member’s death on 27 July 2020.
The benefit, amounting to R458,358.59, was meant for the deceased’s beneficiaries, but long delays and little action by the fund left the family waiting.
Pension Funds Adjudicator Lebogang Mogashoa criticised the fund’s conduct. He said, “The fund’s response paints an image of passiveness, reactivity and lethargy.”
Mogashoa made it clear that pension funds have a legal duty under Section 37C of the Pension Funds Act to actively trace dependents and investigate claims, rather than simply waiting for families to move the process forward.
What the widow told the adjudicator
The complainant told the adjudicator that she had been married to the member in a customary marriage. However, she was only able to formally register their marriage after his death. She explained that the deceased left behind three children from other relationships and one child from their union.
She expressed frustration with the lengthy delay in the allocation and payment of the death benefit. According to her complaint, repeated attempts to follow up produced little progress, and she received no meaningful feedback despite her efforts.
She complained that while the benefit remained unpaid, the family continued to wait for money owed to the beneficiaries.
A handful of calls over five years
The fund told the adjudicator that it was informed of the member’s death on 31 August 2020 and that the Section 37C process began immediately. It explained that its records still showed the deceased as alive according to the Department of Home Affairs’ information, and it was advised to wait until that status was updated.
The fund also said it requested supporting documents from the complainant and maintained that important information still needed to be obtained from potential dependants before the process could be finalised.
But Mogashoa found that explanation deeply unsatisfactory. He noted that although the fund learned of the death in August 2020, it only requested essential documents six months later, on 2 March 2021. After that, its attempts to move the matter forward were scattered and infrequent, with contact recorded only in June 2021, March 2022, September 2022, February 2023, and finally July 2025.
Mogashoa said, “Over five years, the board’s lethargic approach amounted to little more than a handful of phone calls, leaving dependants disadvantaged and potentially denied timely access to benefits that were rightfully theirs.”
He further stated, “The board was not entitled to simply wait for dependants to come forward and should actively investigate claims in terms of section 37C.”
Interest ordered for unreasonable delay
Mogashoa found that the fund failed to fulfil its duties under Section 37C, and that its unreasonable delay caused undue hardship for the complainant and other beneficiaries.
He ordered the Mineworkers Provident Fund to pay interest at 15.5% in addition to the death benefit, reinforcing that trustees must act with diligence and urgency when dealing with dependants’ claims.
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