A retirement fund administrator has been ordered to compensate a former fund member after failing to take reasonable steps to trace him, resulting in the depletion of his benefit through administrative charges.
In a determination issued by the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator, Deputy Pension Funds Adjudicator Naheem Essop found that Tennant Life Benefit (Pty) Ltd had not complied with its obligations to trace a member whose benefit had been transferred to it in 2018.
The complainant was employed by Fidelity Services Group between May 1998 and May 2024. He was initially a member of the Fidelity Guards Retirement Fund before joining the Private Security Sector Provident Fund (PSSPF). In August 2025, the PSSPF paid him a withdrawal benefit of R137 614.48.
The determination recorded disputes concerning the timing and compliance of employer contributions to the PSSPF, including whether full contributions should have commenced earlier in terms of the fund’s qualification of service rules.
Although the PSSPF calculated arrear contributions and late-payment interest and reported the employer for non-compliance, Essop found, on the evidence before him, that the complainant ultimately received the correct withdrawal benefit in terms of the rules applicable to his membership. The complaint against the employer and the PSSPF was therefore dismissed.
The determination separately considered a benefit of R1 069.51 that had been transferred to Tennant on behalf of the complainant in March 2018. Tennant submitted it had not been provided with the complainant’s contact details by the transferring fund, and it did not appoint a tracing agent because the cost of tracing would have exceeded the value of the benefit.
Essop rejected this explanation, noting that Tennant acknowledged that a tracing method costing R30 was available but was not used. He found that Tennant failed to comply with rule 27.1.3 of the fund’s rules, which states that the board take all reasonable steps to trace members or beneficiaries rather than waiting for them to come forward.
The Deputy Adjudicator further noted that the complainant made no reference in his submissions to the benefit held by Tennant, indicating he was unaware of its existence. In the absence of any tracing efforts, the benefit was reduced over time by monthly administration fees and was ultimately depleted.
Essop concluded that Tennant’s failure to trace the complainant and inform him of the benefit caused him to suffer a financial loss. Tennant was ordered to pay the complainant R1 069.51, together with interest.
