The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is working closely with law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to ensure employers pay over contributions to pension funds.

It is working with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Hawks and the National Treasury, among other organisations, to strengthen enforcement and improve accountability, FSCA divisional executive for retirement funds supervision Zarena Camroodien told Business Day.

Earlier this month the FSCA reported total arrears in pension contribution payments were estimated to be R8.33bn, which affected about 590,000 retirement fund members.

This represented a 14.2% increase or R1bn from the R7.29bn reported at the end of March 2025. Late payment interest accounts for 43.5% of the total arrears.

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana disclosed last week municipalities owed R1.7bn to pension funds.

The extent of non-payment and increase in arrears has raised questions about whether anything has been done to hold employers accountable.

“Retirement funds have pursued civil and criminal remedies,” Camroodien said. ”We’ve seen high court judgments compelling municipalities to pay millions in outstanding retirement fund contributions, and in one recent case the court referred the matter to the National Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration of criminal proceedings.

“In addition, retirement funds have lodged about 600 criminal cases with the South African Police Service for investigation and possible prosecution.”

Camroodien said since the FSCA introduced the publication of defaulting employers in 2022, recoveries had exceeded R1bn — representing about 12% of total estimated arrears — and more than 200 employers had improved their compliance position through the settlement of arrears or repayment arrangements.

“Ultimately, our focus is to ensure employees’ retirement savings are protected and that employers who fail to meet their legal obligations face appropriate regulatory, civil and criminal consequences,” Camroodien said.

The FSCA published the names of 6,064 employers who had contravened the Pensions Funds Act by not paying the contributions to pension funds.

Employers reported over the preceding periods had more than tripled, increasing from 23 funds and 5,430 employers in April 2023 to 75 funds and 16,556 employers as at end-February 2026.

The names of only 6,064 defaulting employers were published because of the severity and duration of their reported arrears.

“Current data suggests the severity of arrears is increasing, with late payment interest increasing by 21.5%, compared with a 9% increase in the capital portion of arrears. This indicates outstanding contributions are remaining unpaid for longer periods and continuing to accumulate interest,” the FSCA statement said.

Entities participating in local government funds accounted for 21.5% of total arrears, while those participating in bargaining council funds contributed 76.9%.

Arrears by municipalities in the North West and Free State remained the most significant within the local government sector, collectively accounting for 79.4% of all municipal arrears.

“In the local government sector specifically, interventions by the National Treasury to withhold equitable share allocations from persistently non-compliant municipalities have begun to improve the regularity of contribution payments,” the FSCA said.

It noted more than 200 employer records had moved into a more favourable compliance position since the previous publication in September 2025.

This includes full or partial settlement of arrears, settlement arrangements, or voluntary termination after business closure.

Cosatu parliamentary co-ordinator Matthew Parks condemned the non-payment of contributions to pension funds, pointing out that workers had become more aware of the amounts in their accumulated pension funds and employer non-contributions as a result of the two-pot system of retirement savings, which allows them to withdraw from the savings pot once a year.

Parks criticised the culture of impunity and the lack of consequences for non-payment.

“We need to have some kind of legal action. This is theft, fraud and corruption,” he said.

The security and municipal sectors were big culprits, with the problem not only non-payment of pension contributions but non-payment to third parties such as the Unemployment Insurance Fund, taxes, medical aids and the Compensation Fund.

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