Lize de la Harpe, Senior Legal Advisor at Sanlam

The Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator has on 27 July 2026 announced the introduction of a dedicated complaint form for retirement funds to lodge complaints against participating employers and responsible persons for non-compliance with section 13A of the Pension Funds Act, 1956.

Let’s unpack.

Section 13A of the Pension Funds Act, 1956

Section 13A of the Pension Funds Act, read together with FSCA Conduct Standard 1 of 2022 (RF), imposes a duty on the participating employer to calculate and pay over to the fund the contributions, payable in terms of the rules, on a monthly basis and to furnish to the fund with certain prescribed information. Contributions are payable no later than 7 days after the end of the month for which  are payable. Employer must do a monthly recon of its member data and submit it to the fund together with the contributions.

If the contributions or any part thereof is not paid timeously, interest will be payable by the employer to the fund at a rate prescribed in terms of the act. In terms of section 37(1) of the Pension Funds Act, any person who contravenes or fails to comply with section 13A, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding R10 million or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years, or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

Most notably, the non-payment or late payment of contributions by an employer could result in personal liability for certain individuals within the employer and constitutes a criminal offence.

If the employer fails to notify the fund of the identities of the applicable individuals, all the directors of the employer, will be personally liable for the non-payment or late payment of contributions.

The arrear contribution “crisis”

According to recent FSCA statistics, the total arrear contributions are estimated to be R8.33 billion, affecting approximately 590 000 retirement fund members. This represents an increase of R1.04 billion (14.2%) from the R7.29 billion reported as at 31 March 2025.

Current data suggests that the severity of arrears is increasing. The implementation of the Two Pot Retirement in September 2024 (which allows members to make a withdrawal from their savings component once a tax year) further exposed the failure of employers to pay pension contributions to funds.

The new Pension Funds Adjudicator delivered some very interesting insights at this year’s PLA Annual Conference held in March. With regards to arrear contributions particularly, he referred to the current state of section 13A breaches as a “crisis” and confirmed arrear contributions accounts for 51% of all complaints received by his office.

OPFA Communication 1 of 2026

Complaints lodged by funds directly are distinct for normal member complaints in the sense that they typically entail the fund seeking relief against a participating employer that is contravening section 13A. These complaints may therefore also involve the responsible person at the employer who may be held personally liable, as discussed above.

For this reason, the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator requires a dedicated form that contains detailed information about the fund, employer, responsible persons, periods of non-compliance, outstanding contributions, and supporting documents.

This dedicated form as published effectively standardizes the process for section 13A complaints by funds thereby ensuring faster turnaround times for complaints, necessitating fewer requests for additional information and enhancing the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator’s ability to investigate and resolve section 13A complaints. It not only reinforces the importance of timely contributions to protect members, but aids in identifying responsible persons who may be held personally liable.

These complaints will be handled under the OPFA’s Expedited Complaints policy which expressly recognises that these complaints are so serious in nature that they warrant expedited handling. Going forward, when a retirement fund discovers that an employer is contravening section 13A by not timeously paying over contributions, the fund must complete the new complaint form, attach all required documents (such as a list of affected members and calculation of outstanding amounts), and submit it to the OPFA.

Conclusion

This new form is a step in the right direction to hold recalcitrant employers accountable. And this is only the beginning – the Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill (once enacted) will empower the FSCA to hold employers directly accountable for arrear contributions.

Currently, the FSCA relies on fund trustees to take action against employers who don’t pay over contributions timeously. A significant development in this Bill is the designation of participating employers as “supervised entities” under the COFI Bill (albeit limited to section 13A of Pension Funds Act). Once enacted, the FSCA’s enhanced supervisory powers will bolster stronger enforcement and quicker resolution when employers fall short of their obligations, helping protect members’ retirement savings.

Ed’s note: download the new form here.

ENDS