This is an example produced by the Pension Funds Adjudicator to show you how to write a complaint to them which includes all the information they need.

You can copy the way the complaint is written. But change everything that is in italics to put your own case details in instead. If there is something in the example which does not apply to your case, leave it out.

The person whose case you are dealing with is the complainant. The pension fund or the employer are the respondents. So the complaint is against the respondents.

Send a copy of the complaint to the respondents at the same time that you send it to the Pension Funds Adjudicator, so that the respondents have the same documents as the Pension Funds Adjudicator does.

Remeber:

With your complaint to the PENSION FUNDS ADJUDICATOR include:

• copies of the letter to the pension fund/employer and their reply
• proof that the complaint was first sent to the pension fund, for example, a registered letter slip or fax slip
• any other papers, including letters, about the complaint
• the rules of the pension fund, if available

Remember to send A COPY of the complaint to the RESPONDENTS, so that they have the same documents as the Pension Funds Adjudicator.

In the complaint between:
Henrietta Smith
Complainant
and
Cape Friendly Pension Fund
First respondent
Metal Shoes (PTY) LTD
Second respondent [the employer – only if necessary]

Complaint in Terms of Section 30A of the Pension Funds Act 24 of 1956

1. I am the complainant. My name is Henrietta Smith. I am an adult female, of 16 Wally Street, Kenilworth, Cape Town, and my telephone number is 021–761 3296.
2. The first respondent is the Cape Friendly Pension Fund, whose address is Po Box 2462, observatory, Cape Town. The Principal Officer of the pension fund is Mr James Beckett. The telephone of the pension fund is 021–430 4214 and fax number is 021–430 4240.

3. The second respondent is Metal Shoes (Pty) Ltd, a company with its head office at 420 Voortrekker Road, Maitland, Cape Town. The telephone number of the second respondent is 021–053 6180 and the fax number is 021–053 6181.
   
4. I have sent a written complaint to the pension fund/employer in terms of Section 30A(1) of the Act on 22 February 2015. I enclose a copy of that complaint marked ‘A’.

5. The first respondent wrote back on 25 February 2015 to say they would look into the matter. I enclose a copy of their reply marked ‘B’. I received no further information nor reply from the first respondent.

As the respondent has not replied to the complaint within 30 days, the Pension Funds Adjudicator now has jurisdiction to deal with this matter.

Particulars of the Complaint

Under this heading you should explain what the complaint is about.

The Background

First give the history of your work with that employer and membership of the pension fund. Write down all the background.

Example:

1. I started work for the second respondent on 4 January 1974 as a messenger. I retired on 30 September 2014.
2. All the time I worked for the second respondent, I was a member of the first respondent, a defined benefit fund. I made regular contributions for my pension.

Or you might say:

I purchased an annuity with the golden Retirement Annuity Fund, administered by Ace Insurance Company, on 17 July 1979, and I contributed R150 monthly to this. At the date of retirement, I decided to get a 1/3 cash lump sum. I took the rest of my retirement benefit as a monthly pension.

Explain the Problem

The law says you can complain about:

• how the pension fund is run
• how the money is invested
• the rules of the pension fund

You must tell the Pension Funds Adjudicator if you think:

• the pension fund did something it was not allowed to do
• you lost money because of something the pension fund did
• you disagree with the pension fund about something that happened or about the rules
• the employer did not carry out its pension fund duties

Write what happened and also why you think the pension fund did something it was not supposed to do, or why you think the pension fund caused you to lose money, or what you disagree with the pension fund about, or why you think the employer did not carry out its duties.

Examples:

These are some examples of things you may want to complain about. Maybe you think that:

• The monthly pension was not calculated correctly
• You did not get an increase in the pension that you were supposed to get
• The pension fund left out some things when they worked out your benefits
• The employer took off money from the pension for a staff loan you had
• The pension fund discriminated against you: this means that they were not fair because they gave benefits to others that you did not get
• When the pension fund closed down or changed to a defined contribution pension fund it used the surplus unfairly
• You did not get a fair amount of money when you left the pension fund
• The board of the pension fund did not keep to its promises
• The pension fund used the rules in a way you disagree with
• The pension fund was unfair in deciding about early retirement or disability
• The pension fund gave death benefits unfairly
• The pension fund did not give you proper information so you made a bad decision

Give as many details as possible about the case, and tell the Pension Funds Adjudicator exactly what happened from beginning to end. Remember the Pension Funds Adjudicator has never heard of your case before, and they know absolutely nothing about you or this complaint.

Examples:

It doesn’t help to write:

“I phoned Ace Insurance and they told me they had decided I did not qualify.”

This does not help because it does not say who you spoke to at Ace, when you phoned Ace, who at Ace had decided and it does not really explain what was decided.

It would be better to say it like this:

“on Wednesday 4 February 2015, I phoned Ms Carelse, the Fund Manager at Ace Insurance. She told me that the board of trustees had met on 30 January 2015. They decided to refuse my application for early retirement made in terms of Rule 9.2 of the rules of the fund, because I did not qualify.”

It doesn’t help to write:

“In terms of the rules I am entitled to a gratuity of R100 000.”

This does not say which rule, nor how you arrived at the figure you claim your client is entitled to.

It would be better to say:

“Rule 6.2 provides that on retrenchment an employee is entitled to her own contributions plus 20% of the employer’s contribution plus 10% per annum interest. My own contributions totalled R…, and 20% of the employer’s total contribution amounts to R…. So with interest I am entitled to R100 000. Instead on 6 February 2015 I received a cheque for only R86 000 from the fund. A copy of the fund’s statement is attached, marked ‘C’.”

When you have given the facts, you must set out your argument about why you think the fund was wrong. Say why you think you are right.

Relief

Don’t forget to say what you think would help or solve the problem. This is called relief. Write down what you want the Pension Funds Adjudicator to do. The law says the Adjudicator can make any order about this complaint which a court can make.

So for example you could ask the Adjudicator to order the pension fund or employer to:

• Give you urgent or interim relief
• Give you information which you need
• Pay your contributions for a time
• Pay a certain pension amount
• Give some of the surplus to the provident fund
• Give you compensation money if the fund was wrong
• Change a decision of the fund trustees if it was not fair
• Pay costs
• Obey any law

or ask the Adjudicator for:

• An order that says what your rights are if they are not clear
• An interdict to stop the fund from doing something

End the Complaint

Signed at Cape Town on this [date] day of [month] [year]

Complainant:   …………………………………………… 

……………………………………………………… 

Address:……………………………………………….. 

……………………………………………………… 

……………………………………………………… 

……………………………………………………… 

Tel. no: ……………………………………………….. 

Fax no: ………………………………………………..