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City Press reports that the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) has so far received around 205,000 withdrawal applications for the ‘two-pot’ retirement system with a total value of around R5.7 billion.
It has also apologised for the challenges initially experienced by its administrator, the Government Employees Pensions Administration (GPAA), in implementing the new system. The GPAA will only start to make payments this week, unlike private sector funds which started payments within the first week of September. This has raised frustrations among members who were hoping to have funds before month end and who have also complained about technical issues when attempting to make withdrawal applications. The GEPF is the largest pension fund in the country with more than 1.2 million active members and nearly 500,000 pensioners and beneficiaries. Being a defined benefit fund, it has the added complexity of revising members’ years of service in the case of a withdrawal. According to the GEPF, it duly informed members that payments could take up to 60 days and says it is well within its promised turnaround time. However, many members appear to be facing challenges when attempting to lodge their withdrawals or make changes to their personal details. They complain that the self-service app is not working; they are unable to make changes to their banking details; the email helpline is not responding; and phones are not being answered. The biggest frustration for members is that they have no idea whether their application has been received or not.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Maya Fisher-French at City Press (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page