- More than 5 800 employers have been named for owing retirement fund contributions.
- The total amount owed is about R7.23 billion, including nearly R3 billion just in late interest.
- The National Treasury has helped recover millions for workers and their retirement funds.
If you’re working for a company, there’s a real chance your retirement fund contributions aren’t being paid on time, or at all. When employers don’t pay, workers could fall behind on their retirement savings, lose out on benefits like life or disability cover, and face real financial trouble down the line.
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) recently published a list of 5 821 employers who broke the rules and didn’t pay what they owed to their employees’ retirement funds, as per FSCA Communication 18 of 2025 (RF).
How big is the problem?
By 31 March 2025, the FSCA had reports of 15,521 employers not following the law. Out of those, 5 821 were publicly named because they owed large amounts or had skipped payments for a long time. Most, 5 671 employers, owe more than R50 000 for five months or longer. Some (80 employers) owe over R50 000 but there’s no record of when they last paid. There are also 79 employers who owe less than R50 000 but have racked up more than R50 000 in late interest, and 17 employers who only owe late interest.
This issue is getting worse, with non-compliance having shot up by 50% since December 2023. A big reason for this jump is the inclusion of two large retirement funds, the Auto Workers Provident Fund and the Motor Industry Provident Fund. These two account for 3 353 of the employers on the list, which is more than half the total.
When employers don’t pay, it’s the workers who lose out. People could end up with smaller retirement savings and may even miss out on important benefits like disability cover, life insurance, or funeral benefits. The longer the money goes unpaid, the more late interest builds up, which just makes things worse. Sometimes, unpaid contributions mean that what’s shown in a person’s retirement fund isn’t even what they’re really owed, putting their future financial security in danger.
Why should employers care?
Employers who don’t pay up could face legal trouble, damage their reputation, and get called out in public, just like the FSCA has done here. If employers keep missing payments, workers may lose trust and morale, making it harder for companies to keep good staff. When money is delayed, retirement funds also struggle to invest and grow people’s savings, which could put the whole system at risk.
The FSCA says they’re cleaning up their records. For example, the Private Security Sector Provident Fund (PSSPF) found that 428 of the 531 employers they’d named before are now closed down according to official records. In total, unpaid retirement fund contributions now amount to around R7.23 billion, with R2.98 billion just in late interest.
By working closely with National Treasury, the FSCA has helped get millions of rands back to employees and retirement funds. For example, they’ve made sure money owed by municipalities actually gets paid by holding back some of their funding until the payments are made. The FSCA is also working with the Auditor-General, law enforcement, and the Department of Labour to make sure employers follow the rules and protect workers’ retirement funds.
Here is the list of employers, as published by the FSCA:
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