Urgent efforts must be made to trace people owed pension benefits

At the stroke of midnight on each date of the termination of an employment or client relationship, the shutters came down on millions of South Africans unaware of the money owed to them as a result of retirement savings they have not claimed. This is money they saved through contributions to their retirement funds during their working years. Currently, a total of R88bn is unclaimed, as millions of people are not receiving their benefits, and the government must do more to help find those missing out on money they are entitled to.

More than five million people in SA have not claimed money owed to them. Employees of companies who contributed to a retirement fund and did not receive their benefit upon terminating employment qualify for unclaimed benefits. This also applies to beneficiaries of former members.

Hence there was a collective sigh of relief when finance minister Enoch Godongwana announced in his budget speech that the National Treasury continues to ensure that financial services customers are treated fairly and the sector operates optimally. “One key issue is the more than R88bn of unclaimed financial assets and benefits. The FSCA had proposed that financial institutions be compelled to transfer unclaimed assets into a central fund rather than the National Revenue Fund (NRF). The FSCA estimated the value of unclaimed assets at R88.56bn in 2022.