17-07-2025
Sisters lose challenge to their mom over late sibling's estate
The Johannesburg high court has dismissed an application by two unemployed sisters disputing a decision to allocate 100% of their late sister's death benefits to their elderly mother.
Siblings Thandazile Mbonambi and Thobekile Ngubane approached the court to seek a review and set aside the eJoburg Retirement Fund's decision to allocate death benefits of Hlengiwe Mbonambi to their mother Ntombi Mbonambi. The deceased had nominated her mother as the sole beneficiary for the death benefit from the fund amounting to just more than R4m.
Thandazile and Thobekile claimed they deserved an equal share as they were also depending on the deceased for financial support — an issue they could not produce enough evidence for except a bank statement showing R300 the deceased once sent to one of them.
Their brother did not claim dependency but supported the distribution of the death benefits to their mother.
When a member of a retirement fund dies before reaching retirement age, the lump sum benefit which becomes payable must be paid to the member's dependants and/or nominees. The Pension Funds Act regulates the payment of these death benefits. The primary objective is to ensure those people who were dependent on the deceased member are not left destitute after his/her death, irrespective of whether the deceased was legally required to maintain them.
In this matter, the court heard the appointed fund administrator, Momentum, attended to the investigation on behalf of the fund into possible dependants of the deceased and obtained affidavits from them.
