- Fund repeatedly ignored the Adjudicator’s requests for information, prompting a formal referral for investigation and possible penalties.
- Widow questioned a suspicious R6 000.56 payout despite her husband’s decades-long employment, and the fund provided no explanation.
- Regulator ordered the fund to complete its investigation and pay beneficiaries by strict February deadlines.
A grieving widow who expected support from her late husband’s pension instead found herself chasing answers for nearly three years, only to be met with silence. Now that silence has triggered regulatory scrutiny.
The Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator has referred a pension fund to the Financial Services Conduct Authority for investigation and possible penalties after the fund repeatedly failed to respond to official requests linked to a death benefit complaint.
In a sharply worded determination, Deputy Pension Funds Adjudicator Naheem Essop said the conduct of the Paper Printing Wood and Allied Workers Union fund must be scrutinised. The fund is administered by Fairsure Administration Pty Ltd, whose responsiveness has already raised broader concerns with the regulator.
A benefit that never came
The complaint was lodged by the spouse of a long-serving employee of Afripack Pty Ltd, who passed away on 6 August 2023.
After his death, she submitted what she believed were all the required documents to access the benefit. Instead of a formal process through the fund’s offices, she said a trustee contacted her and arranged to meet in town. There, she received a letter stating the benefit amounted to just R6 000.56. The figure immediately struck her as implausible.
Her husband had worked since February 1981. After more than four decades of employment, the amount did not make sense. The letter was not even addressed to her. The informal meeting, away from official premises, deepened her suspicion.
She later obtained confirmation from the employer of the deceased’s lengthy service, while the Master of the High Court indicated that it could not proceed with estate processes because the outstanding balance had not been disclosed. Still, the fund remained silent.
'Concerning' and 'prejudicial'
Essop said multiple opportunities were given to the fund, its chairperson and its principal officer to respond to the allegations. None did. Even the employer failed to comment.
That failure, he said, left the Adjudicator’s office unable to properly assess whether contributions had been paid or whether a lawful investigation into dependants had taken place. “The fund’s failure to provide a formal response is concerning,” Essop wrote.
He added that the silence “prejudices the complainant in that the Adjudicator is not in a position to make a decision whether the fund received all contributions in respect of the deceased and whether the fund has conducted a proper investigation.”
He went further, warning that “serious allegations made against a trustee of the fund” had gone unanswered. “It is on this basis that this matter is referred to the FSCA to investigate the conduct of the fund as it affects not only this employer and the complainant but others as well,” he said.
Deadlines now imposed
The determination orders the fund to complete a proper Section 37C investigation into dependants and beneficiaries, finalise its findings by 31 January 2026, and allocate and pay the death benefit by 20 February 2026.
Get your news on the go. Click here to follow the Conviction WhatsApp channel.
