Nathalie Burrows, Editor at EBnet

If Day One of the Batseta Winter Conference was about the power of small shifts to produce big outcomes, Day Two proved that the regulators are ready to deal a firm hand. The morning opened with a question that cut straight to the chase: What’s keeping you up at night? Directed at Pension Funds Adjudicator Lebogang Mogashoa and Zareena Camroodien, Divisional Executive: Retirement Funds Supervision at the FSCA, the answers that followed were a wake-up call for every fund officer and service provider in the room.

The Adjudicator’s sleepless nights

Lebogang Mogashoa did not mince his words. His office is in uncharted territory. Complaint volumes have surged by 26% over the past year, and his team of just 84 staff is worked through 13 000 complaints in the last year. The numbers are sobering — but the trajectory is what truly concerns him. The impending enactment of COFI will extend the Pension Funds Adjudicator’s jurisdiction to include public sector retirement funds, which will inevitably add to that already significant caseload.

He invited trustees to spend time marinating in their fund’s complaints policies and processes. If funds invested more effort in resolving complaints internally before they escalated, it would make a material difference.

Lebogang reminded delegates that a PFA ruling carries the same weight as an enforceable court judgement – members get the same relief, without the legal expense – and funds are fully entitled to lodge complaints on behalf of their members. Finally, he flagged an embarrassing pattern: there are, in his words, “quite a few funds that don’t respond” to his office. This is not something he takes lightly, and this Editor reminds readers of the Ombud Council’s new rules for the PFA – where rulings can be made without your input (where you choose to delay or not respond).

The Conduct Authority raises the stakes

Zareena Camroodien’s list of concerns was equally weighty. COFI’s expansion of her office’s supervisory reach will include public sector funds and employers – a significant shift in accountability. She was direct about corruption on retirement fund boards: trustees occupy a position of trust, not a position to “line their own pockets”.

The erosion of members’ benefits sits high on the Conduct Authority’s agenda. Specifically on fees, the FSCA is preparing to publish a Value for Money (VFM) framework before the end of this year. Drawing on learnings from Australia and the UK – the framework will seek to ensure members receive genuine value for the fees they pay. To support this, the FSCA will publish the fees being paid by various funds during this financial year still.

Unclaimed benefits, currently valued at a staggering R90 billion – with around R47 billion sitting in retirement funds – formed a shared concern. Actioning the Finance Minister’s statement of intent in the 2026 Budget Speech, in 2026 National Treasury will publish a paper on establishing a central unclaimed benefit fund framework, beginning with the fundamental question of how to define an unclaimed benefit.

But perhaps the most urgent issue discussed was S13A non-compliance. The figures are now staggering: R7.29 billion in outstanding contributions owed to 592 000 retirement fund members. While the bulk is a specific to the PSSPF and municipalities, approximately 2% is attributable to commercial funds. Regardless of which sector or the type of fund, this number that should be zero. Zareena’s message was unambiguous: the Regulator’s soft-touch approach is over. Funds with the highest levels of non-compliance have been placed on a watch list and can expect far more intrusive, proactive supervision. A published “naming and shaming” list is expected by end of June. The FSCA has an implementation plan and will not hesitate to act.

Delegates can also expect more surveys as COFI implementation draws closer – estimated at four to six months away – specifically targeting members of retirement funds. And the FSCA’s two-pot survey will also be published later this year.

The PSSPF’s hard-won lessons

In a breakaway session with PSSPF, fund chair Rodney Kekana offered a masterclass in turning a compliance crisis into a recovery story. Facing crippling arrear contributions, the fund implemented a structured five-step response:

1. Developing a non-compliance framework,
2. Enforcing disciplined Section 13A reporting,
3. Opening SAPS cases,
4. Deploying debt collectors, and
5. Driving intensive stakeholder engagement, including the PFA and the FSCA.

The results speak for themselves – R120 million in arrears collected over twelve months, plus a growing fund membership and investment portfolio, and compliant employers growing from 900 to 2 100 in 2026. A reminder that decisive action, taken with consistency, delivers results.

Two-pot: The numbers shedding light on the behaviour

It was standing room only in the session where Old Mutual’s Michelle Acton, presented findings from a recent two-pot survey of 35 000 members who have taken savings withdrawal benefits from their retirement funds. There’s not enough space in this short article to share all their findings, but here are my highlights:

• Old Mutual has categorised withdrawers into three groups:
  • Preservers – 21% of members have not touched their savings pots,
  • Contingent withdrawers – 41% have accessed their savings pots once, and
  • Serial withdrawers – 38% of members have made a savings pot withdrawal at every opportunity they could
• Critically, withdrawals are not confined to lower-income earners — members across all ages and income bands are accessing their savings pots.
• The reasons for withdrawal are telling: cost of living pressures and debt repayment dominate, with much of that debt being unsecured. Members are not withdrawing to buy homes or cars – they’re plugging a monthly shortfall, a situation that will not be helped by recent CPI numbers and increased fuel costs.
• Some 47% of those likely to withdraw again view their retirement savings as available income, and 32% anticipate continued financial distress.
• Perhaps the most actionable finding: 71% of members considered the long-term impact before withdrawing, while a further 17% gave it brief thought, yet withdrew anyway. The conclusion is clear: trying to educate members about long-term consequences at the point of withdrawal is far too late.

But there was some better-than-good news. Compulsory preservation of the retirement pot will have a profound and lasting impact on retirement outcomes over time. It’s a slow burn but it’s burning in the right direction.

A conference worth the wager

Batseta has once again demonstrated why this gathering matters. Two days of sharp, current and at times confrontational content – delivered by speakers willing to share both the challenges and the wins. The regulators have shown their cards. The question now is whether the industry will call, fold or raise.

ENDS