July 2024
22Jul

South Africa. Key two-pot bill signed into law

President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the Pension Funds Amendment Bill that is key for the implementation of the two-pot retirement system, which takes effect on September 1. The signature into law of the bill gives legal certainty to the retirement industry, which has been implementing the necessary changes. The new system will provide members of retirement funds with the ability to access part of their retirement savings without having to resign or cash out their pension funds. The new...

July 22, 2024
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04Jul

South Africa. Pension fund members hope to pay off debt from two-pot retirement withdrawals

Pension fund members hope to pay off some debts from their two-pot retirement system withdrawals as financial pressures force 50% of consumers to cash in their retirement funds in an environment where even high-income consumers are failing to pay their home loans. And if they use money from Peter to pay Paul, they will also have to pay the tax man. According to Sanlam Benchmark research that will be revealed next week, Sanlam found in 2022 that just 31% of...

July 4, 2024
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June 2024
25Jun

South Africa. Cosatu works with stakeholders on two-pot system implementation

The Congress of South Africa’s Trade Unions (Cosatu) General Secretary, Solly Phetoe says the affiliation is working with the National Treasury, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and pension funds at Nedlac to ensure a smooth implementation of the two-pot system on September 1. The two-pot retirement system is confirmed to rollout on September 1 when workers will be able to access 10% or up to R30 000 of their existing pension funds. Phetoe says Cosatu condemns anyone that spreading misinformation...

June 25, 2024
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13Jun

South Africa. Government pension fund systems offline for months after ransomware attack

The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) suffered a cyberattack in February 2024, and it only expects to restore its self-service functionality by 21 June 2024. A notice published on the GEPF’s social media pages says the self-service functionality on its web platform and app was still offline due to the data breach at the Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA). “The GPAA has determined that a total rebuild of the platforms is necessary to ensure a stronger platform,” it said. It is expected...

June 13, 2024
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12Jun

South Africa. Two Pot Retirement System

What is a two-pot retirement? The two-pot retirement system is a reform that will allow retirement fund members to make partial withdrawals from their retirement funds before retirement, while preserving a portion that can only be accessed at retirement to help improve retirement outcomes. This means members need not resign to access part of their retirement benefit if they are in financial distress. This reform will come into effect on 1 September 2024. Who is it meant for? The new system will...

June 12, 2024
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May 2024
20May

South Africa. New law enables pension fund members to access their savings

Pension fund members are set to access a third of their pensions within the next four months. The National Assembly unanimously approved the Pension Fund Amendment Bill after it was sent back for concurrence by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) with technical amendments. The bill, introduced by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in January, provides for a “two-pots” system that divides pension contributions into two separate pots: a savings pot and a retirement pot, with effect from September. It proposes that retirement...

May 20, 2024
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April 2024
16Apr

South Africa. The system is offline — Government pension fund goes silent after data breach

The Government Employees Pension Fund’s (GEPF) systems are still down following a data breach from the LockBit ransomware group in mid-February 2024. As a result, government employees cannot log into the GEPF website or its smartphone app, leaving them in the dark about the latest value of their pensions. Several readers have informed MyBroadband of the issues experienced when attempting to access the system in recent weeks. “We are still not able to log into the GEPF website and the cell phone...

April 16, 2024
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March 2024
25Mar

South Africa. Two-pot system: how the state is dealing with its own funds

There are three pension funds in the country, including South Africa’s largest fund, that are not governed by the Pension Funds Act, and National Treasury needs to deal with these separately in implementing its famous two-pot retirement system. I refer to three government pension funds, in particular the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), which holds more than R2.3 trillion in assets and has almost 1.3 million active members and another 475 000 pensioners and beneficiaries. This fund is constituted under...

March 25, 2024
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February 2024
21Feb

4 new bills passed by parliament – with big changes for pensions in South Africa

The National Assembly has passed four Bills, with one having a significant impact on South Africa’s pension system. NA has passed the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill, the Plant Health (Phytosanitary) Bill, the Deeds Registries Amendment Bill, and the Municipal Fiscal Powers and Functions Amendment Bill. The Revenue Laws Amendment Bill, the Plant Health (Phytosanitary) Bill and the Deeds Registries Amendment Bill will head to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence. On the other hand, the Municipal Fiscal Powers and Functions Amendment...

February 21, 2024
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14Feb

South Africa. GEPF warns of fake letters with respect to pension payments

By Staff Reporter   Scammers are trying to defraud government workers of their pension money via SMS by encouraging them to resign rather than retire, the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) has warned. GEPF is the largest pension fund in Africa with more than 1.2 million active members and about 500 000 pensioners and beneficiaries. The fund is responsible for more than R2.3 trillion in assets under its management. GEPF said it was recently made aware of fraudulent letters being sent to its...

February 14, 2024
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