Retirement fund in trouble over unauthorised payout

The South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu) provident fund has been reprimanded by the Pension Funds Adjudicator (PFA) for paying a member's withdrawal benefit without his consent and for acting contrary to rules of the fund and the Pension Funds Act.

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The member complained to the adjudicator, Muvhango Lukhaimane, that the Saccawu National Provident Fund ignored his request to transfer his benefit into an annuity account.

In response, the fund claimed the member had contacted its call centre and requested that his full benefit be paid in cash.

'We acted upon instruction'

However, when asked by Lukhaimane to produce a recording of the call or a completed withdrawal claim form, the fund was unable to do so.

The complainant, who had been employed by Pick n Pay Retailers from December 2017 to November 2023, received a withdrawal benefit of R23 322.36 on 2 February this year, while R30 000 was paid into a retirement annuity on the same date.

He alleged that his employer failed to pay all provident fund contributions on his behalf and had not provided proof of payments made from the start of his employment until termination.