Latest news with #EskomPensionandProvidentFund
IOL News
6 days ago
- IOL News
Woman wins legal battle to exclude late husband's girlfriend from his over R560,000 Eskom pension fund
A woman has managed to overturn a decision made by the Eskom pension fund after allocating funds to her late husband's girlfriend. Z Madlala was a member of Eskom Pension and Provident Fund until his passing in December 2022. He was married to LA Magoso. After his death, R560,000 became available for his beneficiaries. Although Madlala had nominated his wife to receive 80% of his pension fund, the Eskom pension fund board decided to allocate Magoso 28%. The money was further shared among Magoso's five children, one of Madlala's children from a previous relationship, and his girlfriend, Eslina Ngomane who also received 28%. Aggrieved by the decision, Magoso approached the Pension Fund Adjudicator (PFA) seeking to overturn Eskom's decision. In her appeal to the PFA, Magoso highlighted that Ngomane was unknown to the Madlala family and requested an investigation into the legitimacy of the beneficiary nomination form. Given that this form was completed just eight months before Madlala's death, during a period when he was unwell, she raised doubts over its validity. The Eskom provident fund stated that its decision was based on three claims received after Madlala's death: one from Magoso on behalf of herself and her five children with the deceased, a second from Ngomane, and a third from Madlala's other three children. The fund submitted that in determining whether or not to include Ngomane, the board considered the fact that she was 50, she was unemployed at the time of the investigation, Madlala nominated her to receive 10% of the death benefit, and she also stated in an affidavit that she was dependent on Madlala for maintenance and support. The fund stated that considering her age, her earning potential was very slim and she had more than 15 years before she could qualify to receive an old age grant. Furthermore, she qualified as the deceased's factual dependent, and it was necessary to consider her in the allocation of the death benefit.
IOL News
06-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Pension Funds Adjudicator demands transparency from funds in death benefit disputes
Pension Funds Adjudicator Muvhango Lukhaimane has said that the POPI Act does not prevent the PFA from having access to pension fund investigation reports. Image: Supplied Pension Funds Adjudicator (PFA) Muvhango Lukhaimane has taken a firm stance against funds that withhold investigation reports under the guise of protecting personal information, warning that the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) should not be used to conceal poor investigations. In a recent determination, Lukhaimane made it clear that funds are obligated to share information with the PFA when requested without needing consent from beneficiaries. 'A fund cannot hide behind POPIA,' she said, adding that the PFA qualifies as a public body and 'is allowed to collect personal information when necessary for the conduct of proceedings'. The PFA was dealing with a complaint from the customary spouse of a deceased member of the Eskom Pension and Provident Fund. She was unhappy with the board's decision to award a large portion of the R560 160 death benefit to the deceased's life partner. The board had allocated: 28% each to the spouse and the life partner, 2% to five major children, 30% to one minor child, and 2% each to two other minor children. However, the deceased's nomination form indicated that he wished for 80% to go to his spouse, 10% to his life partner, and 5% each to two children. Lukhaimane ruled that the fund failed to conduct a thorough investigation into the financial dependency of each beneficiary. 'There is a duty on the fund to actively investigate the extent of each of the beneficiaries' financial dependency on the deceased,' she stressed. 'The fund failed to follow the beneficiary nomination. There must be a valid reason for not honouring a nomination.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕
