Pension fund slammed for allocating death benefit to ghost girlfriend

The Pension Funds Adjudicator has criticized the Becsa Provident Fund for its serious governance failures, particularly in the allocation of death benefits. The fund made errors in payments and wrongly assigned a portion of a deceased's death benefit to a woman who claimed to be his cohabiting partner, later found to be untrue. The deceased's mother was the one to bring the complaint to the adjudicator, Lebogang Mogashoa, after her son's death in August 2022.

The deceased's estate was due a death benefit of more than R2 million, after accounting for a tax deduction of over R709,000 and adding interest of over R121,000. In 2024, the fund's board decided to distribute the benefit among the deceased's parents, sister, and the alleged partner, with 10% going to the latter. However, the payments made in November 2023 were insufficient, leaving some family members short by over R85,841.28.

The fund alleged that the partner had provided affidavits claiming her relationship with the deceased, supported by affidavits from her, the deceased's landlord, and a friend. However, the alleged partner later recanted, admitting she had been persuaded to file the false claim for money. Mogashoa ruled that the fund had made a mistake by relying on affidavits without verifying their accuracy.

The fund was ordered to investigate the matter further and correct the wrongful distribution of the deceased's death benefit.