Why won't the UIF and pension fund pay my wife's money into her Mukuru Bank account?

The long answer

Perhaps your wife should start by getting her bank statement from Mukuru and taking it to the pension fund office and asking them to explain what the problem is and how she can fix it. She should emphasise that she needs to access her pension fund now that she has been retrenched. 

If they do not help her, she could take it up with the Pension Funds Adjudicator (PFA). The PFA website says: “Your complaint to the Pension Funds Adjudicator must relate to a pension fund; either that it did what it is not supposed to or that it hasn’t done what it is supposed to in terms of its rules and the Act. Also that the employer or any other party has not done what they are supposed to in terms of the rules and the Act. For example, that payment that was supposed to have been made has not been paid.”

“Before you submit your complaint to the Adjudicator, address your complaint to the party against whom you are complaining in writing, and wait for a response.”

“If after 30 days you have not received response or you have received a response but you are still not happy, you can submit your complaint to the Adjudicator.”

You can submit your written complaint to The Pension Funds Adjudicator, either by:

E-mail: enquiries@pfa.org.za
Website: www.pfa.org.za
Address:​ 4th Floor
Riverwalk Office Park
Block A, 41 Matroosberg Road
Ashlea Gardens
Pretoria 0181

This is what the PFA office says will happen after they receive your complaint:

The complaint will be registered and given a reference number.

​​The complaint will also be assessed to determine whether or not the Pension Funds Adjudicator has jurisdiction (legal right or mandate) to adjudicate the type of issues.

​​If the adjudicator has no jurisdiction, you will be informed by a letter referring you to the correct entity where your complaint can be addressed.

​​Should the matter fall within the jurisdiction of the Pension Funds Adjudicator, the complaint shall be forwarded to the party or parties against whom the complaint is raised, to respond within 30 days.

​​On receipt of the response, the complainant shall be granted an opportunity to comment on the response by submitting a reply letter.

​​At this point an assessment shall be conducted to determine whether the dispute can be resolved through a conciliation hearing with an independent conciliator, if so, it shall be allocated for a conciliation hearing and the parties shall be according informed by a letter.

​​If the conciliation is not successful or the dispute is not suitable for a conciliation, it shall be forwarded to the adjudication team for an investigation on the factual and legal issues as contained in the submitted documents.

​​A draft document with the findings and recommendations shall be forwarded to the Adjudicator or deputy adjudicator to make a ruling. That is, to issue a determination.

​​The signed determination with reasons is sent to the parties.

​​Any party who feels that the determination is not in accordance with the law can approach the High Court with a formal application to have the determination reviewed.

Secondly, she should also be able to open another bank account using her asylum-seeker permit. 

Nedbank, for example, says: “Your refugee or asylum seeker documents must be valid and up to date. Your minimum monthly income must be at least R3,000 before tax. Refugees and asylum seekers can open their account at a Nedbank branch only.”

YoSwift says:

“To open a bank account in South Africa as an asylum seeker, you will need to provide the following documents:

1. A valid passport or asylum seeker permit issued by the South African government.

2. Proof of residence, such as a utility bill or rental agreement.

3. Proof of income, such as a payslip or letter from your employer.

4. A reference letter from your employer, landlord or community leader.

5. A completed bank account application form.”

What PASSOP (an organisation in Cape Town that fights for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers), says about opening an account at FNB is this:

“To open an account at FNB, you need a valid section 22 asylum seeker permit or a valid section 24 refugee status permit and proof of residence.” 

They say you will not be able to open the account on the same day, as the bank will verify your documents with Home Affairs, and then will contact you once your papers have been verified. It could take a few weeks. They say that you should continue to check in person at the bank, and if the bank refuses to help you, you can contact PASSOP. These are their contact details:

          Tulbagh Centre Building (4th floor, room 413 – 414)

          Hans Strijdom Avenue Lane,

          Cape Town

          Tel: 021 418 2838

Another Cape Town-based organisation that helps asylum seekers and refugees is the Scalabrini Centre.

These are their contact details:

• Scalabrini Centre

• Address: 47 Commercial Street, Cape Town.

• Email: info@scalabrini.org.za.

• Phone: +27 21 465 6433.

• Their Advocacy (advice) number: 078 260 3536 (You can send a WhatsApp to them at that number between 9am and 4pm, Monday to Friday.)

But the place to start is the pension fund office. She needs to go to them with the proof of her membership of the fund so that she can understand what the problem is and what they think she should do about it.

Wishing you the best,
Athalie