More than R1 billion in arrear retirement fund contributions has reportedly been recovered since the Financial Sector Conduct Authority began publicly naming defaulting employers three years ago. Yet total arrears – comprising unpaid contributions and late-payment interest – were still estimated at R8.33 billion at the end of February this year.
The latest figures suggest the FSCA’s broader enforcement strategy is producing some results, but not quickly enough to stop arrears from growing.
More retirement funds are reporting defaulting employers, more than 200 employer records have moved into a more favourable compliance position, and reported recoveries have exceeded R1bn. Even so, total arrears have increased by 14.2% since the previous publication, while late-payment interest now accounts for almost half of the amount outstanding.
Released on 30 June 2026 and announced publicly on 2 July, Communication 12 of 2026 (RF) records reports from 75 retirement funds covering 16 556 employers in arrears on 28 February 2026. Of these, the FSCA published the names of 6 064 employers, selected according to the severity and duration of their arrears. The reported arrears affect almost 590 000 retirement fund members.
The figures also illustrate how entrenched some cases have become. While many employers are only months behind, the oldest arrears recorded in the published list stretch back 314 months – more than 26 years.
Although municipal arrears have attracted much of the public attention, the latest figures show that most of the reported arrears arise elsewhere. Employers participating in local government retirement funds account for 21.5% of estimated arrears, while employers participating in bargaining council funds account for 76.9%.
Bargaining councils are statutory bodies established through collective bargaining between employers and trade unions in specific industries, such as construction, metal and engineering, road freight, and the motor industry. They often administer retirement funds for employees covered by those sectoral agreements.
Within the local government sector, municipalities in North West and Free State remain the biggest contributors, together accounting for 79.4% of all municipal arrears.
This is the FSCA’s fifth publication since it announced in 2022 that it would begin publicly naming employers reported to have failed to pay retirement fund contributions. The initiative has become broader and more co-ordinated, but the underlying problem has proved more persistent than many expected.
Three years on
The scale of reporting has changed markedly since the first publication.
In April 2023, the FSCA had received reports from 23 retirement funds covering 5 430 employers. By 28 February 2026, that had increased to reports from 75 funds covering 16 556 employers.
By March 2025, the number of employers reported to the regulator had almost trebled to 15 521, while estimated arrears had climbed to R7.29bn. Almost 592 000 members were affected.
Over the most recent reporting period, estimated arrears increased from R7.29bn on 31 March 2025 to R8.33bn on 28 February 2026, while the number of affected members remained broadly unchanged at about 590 000.
Part of the increase reflects better reporting rather than deteriorating compliance alone. Since Conduct Standard 1 of 2022 came into effect in February 2023, retirement funds have been required to report employers that fail to pay contributions within the prescribed timeframes, giving the regulator a much broader picture of arrears across the retirement fund industry.
Better reporting, however, does not fully explain the latest figures. Although more than 200 employer records have moved into a more favourable compliance position since the previous publication, the total amount outstanding has continued to increase.
Older debt, bigger problem
While the capital amount of unpaid retirement fund contributions increased by 9% over the reporting period, late-payment interest increased by 21.5% and now accounts for 43.5% of total arrears.
According to the FSCA, this indicates that outstanding contributions are remaining unpaid for longer periods and continuing to accumulate interest.
The number of employers reported increased only modestly between the last two publications, while the number of affected members changed very little. Taken together, the figures suggest that at least part of the increase in arrears reflects existing debts becoming larger over time rather than a sharp increase in newly reported defaults.
How the FSCA is responding
As the debt has grown older, the enforcement effort has become broader.
The FSCA says it is working alongside National Treasury, the Auditor-General, the National Prosecuting Authority, and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) to strengthen enforcement and improve accountability among employers and their directors.
The regulator also credits National Treasury’s decision to withhold equitable share allocations from persistently non-compliant municipalities with improving the regularity of retirement fund contribution payments in parts of the local government sector.
The initiative has therefore evolved beyond simply naming defaulting employers into a wider enforcement framework involving multiple state institutions.
What does ‘improved compliance’ mean?
The phrase “improved compliance” suggests a single outcome. Annexure B shows it encompasses several.
Some employers made full or partial settlements of their arrears. Others entered settlement agreements and remained compliant with those arrangements. A third group had entered settlement arrangements but were subsequently recorded as non-compliant. The final category comprises employers that voluntarily terminated, were suspended, entered liquidation, or closed their businesses.
These outcomes are materially different. Some indicate money has been recovered or repayment is proceeding as agreed, while others reflect enforcement processes that ended without an ongoing employment relationship. Together they illustrate that employers may move through different stages before their cases are resolved.
Since the FSCA first began publishing defaulting employers, reported recoveries have reached R1.01bn – equivalent to about 12.1% of the current estimated arrears
An important caveat
The publication should not be read as a real-time register of non-compliant employers.
The FSCA notes that the information was supplied by retirement funds and cautions that, because several months lapsed between the reporting date and publication, some employers listed may already have paid their outstanding contributions or made arrangements to settle them by the time the Communication was released.
The regulator has also published an erratum correcting four employer entries that appeared in its previous publication, illustrating that the published lists are based on information reported to the FSCA and may be amended as new information becomes available.
The next challenge
When Commissioner Unathi Kamlana reflected on the previous publication, he said he hoped that within 18 to 24 months “we will be talking about a completely different story”, with employers and trustees increasingly recognising their legal and fiduciary responsibilities.
Read: What the FSCA and retirement funds are doing to tackle arrears
Less than a year later, the conversation has changed.
The first phase of the FSCA’s initiative was to identify employers that failed to pay retirement fund contributions and bring greater transparency to the problem. The latest publication suggests that the next challenge is ensuring recoveries outpace the growth of new arrears and that employers change their payment behaviour before interest continues to erode members’ retirement savings.
To download Communication 12 of 2026 (RF): Publication of the names of retirement funds and employers with arrear contributions, go to www.fsca.co.za > Supervisory Information > Industry Communication > Retirement Funds > FSCA Communication
