The South African Pension Funds Adjudicator received 13,041 complaints during the 2025-2026 financial year, a record increase of 26% over one year, according to its integrated report published in October.
Unpaid employer contributions account for more than 61% of cases examined and closed, compared with about 44% in the previous financial year. Together with disputes over withdrawal benefits, they account for nearly 84% of cases handled.
The failure to pay contributions affects employees’ pension rights. The adjudicator intervenes in these disputes between employers, pension funds and contributors.
The Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator closed 11,047 cases during the financial year. Financial decisions handed down reached 99.76 million rand, according to Moonstone’s analysis of the report, while the number of cases pending for more than six months rose from 76 to 342.
The body attributes the rise to the introduction of the two-pot retirement system, greater awareness of its services and economic difficulties. The arrangement, which came into force in September 2024, allows contributors to access part of their savings before retirement while protecting the rest.