Statutory body the Pension Funds Adjudicator has referred the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers' Union (CEPPWAWU) to regulator the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) for investigation after the CEPPWAWU fund repeatedly failed to respond to the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator for information about a complaint.

The CEPPWAWU fund is administered by employee benefits services company Fairsure Administration, and Deputy Pension Funds Adjudicator Naheem Essop's office has struggled to get responses from funds under the administration of Fairsure.

This has already been brought to the attention of the FSCA, he says.

The complaint concerned the alleged nonpayment of a death benefit by the fund, in respect of the complainant's spouse who had been employed by Afripack and passed away in August 2023.

The complainant said that, following the passing of her spouse, she had submitted all the necessary documents to the fund in order to access his death benefit. She added that a trustee of the fund contacted her and they met in town, where the trustee provided her with a letter indicating that the deceased had a benefit in the amount of R6 000.56.

The complainant indicated that it was suspicious that the trustee requested that they meet in town instead of the fund’s offices. Further, the letter was not addressed to her and she doubted that the letter reflected the correct fund value, as the deceased had been employed since 1981.

The complainant also provided a copy of the employer’s letter confirming that the deceased had been employed from February 19, 1981, as well as a letter from the Master of the High Court dated January 24, 2024, which stated that the court was unable to issue letters of authority or letters of executorship, if the outstanding balance was not disclosed.

The employer was granted an opportunity to comment on the allegations made against it, but failed to respond to the adjudicator.

The fund, chairperson and the principal officer of the fund were granted multiple opportunities to comment on the allegations, but they failed to respond, says Essop.

In his determination, Essop says the fund has yet to pay the deceased’s potential beneficiaries the benefit due to them.

Further, there was no evidence that the fund had conducted a proper investigation, and the period that had elapsed since the date of the deceased’s death was excessively long, he adds.

Therefore, the fund should finalise its investigation and proceed with the payment of the death benefit without any further delay.

Essop ordered the fund to finalise its investigation by January 31 this year and to allocate and pay the deceased’s death benefit to the identified beneficiaries on or before February 20.

“The fund's failure to provide a formal response is concerning. Further, it prejudices the complainant, in that the adjudicator is not in a position to make a decision whether the fund received all contributions in respect of the deceased and whether the fund has conducted a proper investigation as required in terms of the Pension Funds Act.

“More concerning is that there are serious allegations made against a trustee of the fund, which has gone unanswered. It is on this basis that this matter is referred to the FSCA to investigate the conduct of the fund as it affects not only this employer and the complainant, but others as well,” Essop says.

Engineering News reached out to CEPPWAWU and Fairsure for comment on January 26. This article will be updated with their comments, once received.