A woman who inherited over R1.2 million from her late father’s pension fund sought relief at the Pension Fund Adjudicator (PFA) to access the balance after two beneficiaries have not been traced for almost 30 years.

The father died in May 1995 and was a member of the Metal Industries Provident Fund.

Following his death, over R1.6 million became available for distribution to his beneficiaries. 

His daughter received more than R1.2 million, with the first payment made in May 2023 and the outstanding balance paid in August 2023.

Two more beneficiaries were listed on the nomination documents, his nephew and his brother.

In November 2023, the daughter returned to the fund to get the balance. She clarified that it was her grandmother, not her father, who had completed the nomination documents.

She claimed she did not know the nephew’s location, as he was homeless and lived on the streets. Information regarding the deceased’s brother was unavailable.

At the hearing, the fund explained that it received the father’s documents from his employer in August 1996 and three people were listed as his children.

The fund maintained that it conducted an investigation to identify potential dependants to distribute the death benefit fairly. It stated that this had been achieved as the daughter received her portion and no further benefits were due to her.

Looking at the matter, the adjudicator Muvhango Lukhaimane, noted that the investigation remained incomplete and the fund failed to explain the cause of the delay in finalising it.

Lukhaimane said the board had not made any effort to trace the other two beneficiaries except to rely on the information provided by the deceased’s daughter.

“For the board to wait for over 27 years since it was notified of the deceased death until it was approached by the complainant is inexcusable and unconscionable. It is clear that the board failed to conduct a proper investigation within a reasonable time to the extent that there is an allegation that one of the beneficiaries is homeless and living on the streets whilst there is a benefit due to them. The fund must make effort to obtain further information on the two beneficiaries,” she said.

Lukhaimane added that a reasonable board would have considered various options to gather the remaining information about the other dependents, including conducting interviews with other individuals.

“It does not appear that the board has any plans to progress the matter except to wait for the dependants to pitch. For the board to do nothing but wait when the benefit is needed for maintenance is a dereliction of fiduciary duties,” she said.

The board was given a year to trace the remaining beneficiaries and if they were unable to find them, they were directed to allocate the death benefit to the daughter.

sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za

IOL News

Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel. 

Source link