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Pension Funds Act, 1956 (Act No. 24 of 1956)

Chapter III : Manner of Administration and Powers of Registered Funds

13A. Payment of contributions and certain benefits to pension funds

 

(1) Notwithstanding any provision in the rules of a registered fund to the contrary, the employer of any member of such a fund shall pay the following to the fund in full, namely—
(a) any contribution which, in terms of the rules of the fund, is to be deducted from the member's remuneration; and
(b) any contribution for which the employer is liable in terms of those rules

 

(2)
(a) The minimum information to be furnished to the fund by every employer with regard to payments of contributions made by the employer in terms of subsection (1), shall be as prescribed.
(b) If that information does not accompany the payment of a contribution, the information shall be transmitted to the fund concerned not later than days after the end of the month in respect of which the payment was made.

 

(3)
(a) Any contribution to a fund in terms of its rules, whether it be a contribution contemplated in subsection (1), a contribution for the payment of which a member of the fund is responsible personally, or a contribution to be paid on a member's behalf—
(i) shall be transmitted directly into the fund's account with a bank finally registered as such under the Banks Act, 1990 (Act No. 94 of 1990), not later than seven days after the end of the month for which such a contribution is payable; or
(ii) shall be forwarded directly to the fund in such a manner as to have the fund receive the contribution not later than seven days after the end of that month; or
(iii) in the case of a fund contemplated in section 15(4) that has been exempted from the provisions of sections 5(2) and 9 because, in operating as a fund, its assets consist exclusively of one or more policies of insurance with an insurer carrying on long-term insurance business as contemplated in the Insurance Act, 1943, shall be forwarded to the insurer concerned in such manner as to have the insurer receive the contribution not later than seven days after the end of that month.
(b) Any contribution forwarded to and received by a fund in the circumstances contemplated in paragraph (a)(ii), shall be deposited in the bank account on the first business day following the day of receipt.

 

(4) An amendment of the rules of a fund relating to the reduction of contributions or the suspension or discontinuation of the payment of contributions shall not affect any liability to pay any contribution which became payable at any time before the date of the resolution whereby the amendment was effected, irrespective of the date on which the amendment may take effect.

 

(5) When a person who, for any reason except a reason contemplated in section 14, 28 or 29, has ceased to be a member of a fund (in this subsection called the first fund), is in terms of the rules of another fund admitted as a member of the other fund and allowed to transfer to that other any benefit or any right to any benefit to which such person had become entitled in terms of the rules of the first fund, the first fund shall, within 60 days of the date of such person's written request to it, or, if applicable, within any longer period determined by the registrar on application by the first fund, transfer that benefit or right to the other fund in full. The transfer shall be subject to deductions in terms of section 37D and to the rules of the first fund.

 

(6)
(a) For the purpose of monitoring and ensuring compliance with this section, the principal officer of the fund or any authorised person shall, at the times and in the manner and format prescribed, submit reports to the categories of persons, to be specified in that notice, who have an interest in such compliance.
(b) In applying paragraph (a), "authorised person" means any person who has been authorised by the relevant board to perform the contemplated in that paragraph and of whom the registrar has been advised in writing.

 

(7) Interest at a rate as prescribed shall be payable from the first day following the expiration of the period in respect of which such amounts were payable on—
(a) the amount of any contribution not transmitted into a fund's bank account before the expiration of the period prescribed therefor by subsection (3)(a)(i);
(b) the amount of any contribution not received—
(c) by a fund before the expiration of the period prescribed therefor by subsection (3)(a)(ii); or
(d) in the circumstances contemplated in subsection (3)(a)(iii), by the insurer concerned before the expiration of the period prescribed by that subsection;
(e) the value of any benefit, or right to any benefit, not transferred by the first fund to the other fund before the expiration of the period prescribed therefor by subsection (5).

 

(8) For the purposes of this section, the following persons shall be personally liable for compliance with this section and for the payment of any contributions referred to in subsection (1):
(a) If an employer is a company, every director who is regularly involved in the management of the company's overall financial affairs;
(b) if an employer is a close corporation registered under the Close Corporations Act, 1984 (Act No. 69 of 1984), every member who controls or is regularly involved in the management of the close corporations overall financial affairs; and
(c) In respect of any other employer of any legal status or description that has not already been referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b), every person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the governing body or structure of the employer acts or who controls or who is regularly involved in the management of the employer's overall financial affairs.

[Section 13A(8) inserted by section 17 of Act No. 45 of 2013]

 

(9)        

(a) A fund to which the provisions of subsection (8) apply, must request the employer in writing to notify it of the identity of any such person so personally liable in terms of subsection (8).
(b) In the event that an employer fails to comply with the requirements of this provision, all the directors (in respect of a company), all the members regularly involved in the management of the closed corporation (in respect of a closed corporation), or all the persons comprising the governing body of the employer, as the case may be, shall be personally liable in terms of subsection (8).

[Section 13A(9) inserted by section 17 of Act No. 45 of 2013]

 

(10) A board of a fund must report any non-compliance with the provisions of this section, in accordance with such conditions and in the format as may be prescribed.

[Section 13A(10) inserted by section 17 of Act No. 45 of 2013]

 

[Section 13A has not yet commenced, per paragraph (h) of Notice 169 of 2018]