At the stroke of midnight on each date of the termination of an employment or client relationship, the shutters came down on millions of South Africans unaware of the money owed to them as a result of retirement savings they have not claimed.
This is money they saved through contributions to their retirement funds during their working years.
Currently, a total of R88bn is unclaimed, as millions of people are not receiving their benefits, and the government must do more to help find those missing out on money they are entitled to.
This large amount is despite retirement fund administrators’ claims about their efforts to trace beneficiaries.
More than five million people in SA have not claimed money owed to them.
Employees of companies who contributed to a retirement fund and did not receive their benefit upon terminating employment qualify for unclaimed benefits.
This also applies to beneficiaries of former members.
Hence there was a collective sigh of relief when finance minister Enoch Godongwana announced in his budget speech that the National Treasury continues to ensure that financial services customers are treated fairly and the sector operates optimally.
“One key issue is the more than R88bn of unclaimed financial assets and benefits.
“Following recommendations from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), National Treasury will introduce reforms to manage these unclaimed benefits through the creation of a central administrator responsible for record keeping and tracing,” he said.
The FSCA had proposed that financial institutions be compelled to transfer unclaimed assets into a central fund rather than the National Revenue Fund (NRF).
The FSCA estimated the value of unclaimed assets at R88.56bn in 2022.
It comprised 53% of retirement benefits, followed by 38% held by investment and life insurance schemes.
Inaccurate member information, outdated member contact details, and employers not providing comprehensive details of members are the main reasons for the unclaimed funds.
In February 2025, the JSE launched a campaign to trace beneficiaries of former employees, shareholders or beneficiaries of deceased estates with their unclaimed funds.
From a public-interest perspective, the FSCA advocates that financial institutions should not retain unclaimed assets over the long term.
It claims that not only does this potentially compromise an entity’s commitment to finding and maintaining contact with its customers, but it is also an unfair outcome for the rightful beneficiary.
All this shines a light on the vulnerable people who are not getting what they are due.
That is why reforms to manage these unclaimed benefits will go a long way to alleviate problems.
Plainly a portion of the R88bn of unclaimed assets and benefits should be spent on finding these missing people.
Why do they not claim? It is easy to forget that huge numbers of people do not watch the news, do not vote and are unconnected to local services that could help.
Many of them are desperate: which means their incomes are lower than the basic costs of housing, energy, water and food.
“Pride” is an unlikely explanation for why people do not claim their benefits.
Instead, ignorance, mental illness, semi-literacy, fear of rejection, fear of officialdom or difficulty applying online are among many barriers that people face.
For example, many children qualify for the grant but do not receive it.
About 48% of eligible infants did not receive the grant in 2020, according to the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town.
Also, homeowners who do not qualify for income-linked rebates are paying municipal bills that have outpaced inflation, social grants and pensions, and salary increases over the past decade as a result of spiralling property valuations and a wave of fixed charges that did not exist 10 years ago.
Finding these missing people should be easy.
The National Alliance for the Development of Community Advice Offices (NADCAO), Community Advice Offices South Africa (CAOSA) and others have shown how to do it in cases limited to a handful of retirement funds.
Their software uses data and unemployment benefit records to identify who is owed and to help them claim.
About 30 local authorities and mining companies have collaborated to improve this service, but the government should roll it out nationally.
The government and scores of retirement fund administrators should find that it pays to redouble efforts to prevent them from needing social grants or ending up destitute.
They could find many more claimants if the government and other stakeholders urgently remove unnecessary obstacles including the sharing of relevant data on grounds of privacy, even while personal information in the government’s and retirement fund administrators’ possession can be shared willingly.
Breaking this obsession with privacy requires an urgent change in attitude.
For now, the National Treasury must swiftly introduce reforms to manage these unclaimed benefits by creating a central administrator responsible for record-keeping and tracing.
And all relevant stakeholders should make information available to those authorised to find missing claimants.
In a country so unequal and where benefit cuts fall heaviest on children, the government has a powerful obligation to ensure everyone at least gets what they are owed.
Opposition parties’ relish for benefit-cheat stories means we hear a lot more about the billions of rands lost to fraud than we do about the R88bn missing from the pockets of those who need it most.
The ANC-led GNU has promised to return to its pledge to end child poverty, household food insecurity and income inequality.
That could not be more urgent, and finding the non-claimants is something it should be doing right now.
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