Customary wife fails in claim for husband's R4.5M pension

THE customary wife of a deceased member of the Becsa Provident Fund fails in her attempt to claim a portion of his death benefit, after the Pension Funds Adjudicator finds that she does not prove financial dependency and is considered an estranged spouse.

- DIEKETSENG MALEKE

The complainant approaches the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator (OPFA), and Muvhango Lukhaimane, the Pensions Funds Adjudicator, after the fund distributes the death benefit of R4 514 636.46 among the deceased's children and his girlfriend. The allocation is as follows: one daughter receives 15%, another daughter 22.5%, one son 22.5%, another son 25%, and the girlfriend 15%.

The OPFA says the deceased is a member of the fund until his death in September 2023. The complainant submits that she is married to the deceased in terms of customary law and is financially dependent on him. She provides a lobola letter dated September 17, 2022 and a marriage certificate to support her claim. She further states that, in accordance with the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998, a spouse may register a marriage posthumously. She registers the marriage on 13 March 2024, claiming that a valid customary marriage is concluded on September 17, 2022.