Unpaid pension contributions: FSCA reports more than thousand employers to police

The FSCA has reported more than a thousand employers to the police for not paying over their employees’ pension fund contributions. It has been compulsory to report non-payment to the police since 2023.

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) revealed its latest statistics on employers not paying over pension fund contributions at a press conference this week and also published FSCA Communication 18 of 2025 that contains the names of employers with arrear contributions.

Before the two-pot retirement system was implemented last year on 1 September, pension fund members knew very little about their pension funds, but when many of them wanted to withdraw some of their retirement savings, they were told that their employers did not pay over their pension fund contributions.

It was only then that they realised that their employers have not been paying.

ALSO READ: FSCA lists 2 330 employers with pension fund contributions in arrears

FSCA says initial affected number of pension funds grew from 23 to 67

This was the fourth publication since August 2023, with additional publications in March and November 2024 listing employers in arrears.

The first report started with 23 funds, while the latest report lists 67 funds after adding the two additional large funds, the Auto Workers Provident Fund and the Motor Industry Provident Fund, which account for 57.5% of published employers.

The publication indicates funds’ improving compliance as well as improvements in the quality of fund data, such as a list of corrections containing 421 employers out of 531 previously published by the Private Security Sector Provident Fund.

The communication names 5 830 employers that contravened section 13A of the Pension Funds Act that prescribes how contributions and other benefits should be paid to a retirement fund. By 31 March 2025, Keabetswe Tsuene, specialist analyst in the FSCA’s retirement fund conduct supervision department, says the FSCA received reports of 15 521 employers contravening Section 13A of the of the Act.

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FSCA list of employers published due to the severity and duration of their arrears

This includes the names of 5 821 employers published due to the severity and duration of their arrears. The publication shows that:

• 5 671 employers have outstanding contributions exceeding R50 000 that has been overdue for 5 months and more.
• 80 employers have outstanding contributions exceeding R50 000, but the last contribution date was not provided.
• 79 employers owe less than R50 000 in contributions, but their outstanding late payment interest exceeds R50 000 that has also been overdue for 5 months and more. This is especially the case in the private security industry.
• 17 employers who only have late payment interest outstanding.

Tsuene says this represents a 50% increase in non-compliant employers since the FSCA’s last publication in December 2023. The increase was primarily driven by the inclusion of two of the largest retirement funds in the industry, the Auto Workers Provident Fund and the Motor Industry Provident Fund. Together, these funds account for 3 353 (57.5%) of the 5 821 published employers.

ALSO READ: Pension fund contribution arrears ‘serious crime against humanity’

FSCA also noted increase in quality of data pension funds keep

“We previously raised concerns regarding the quality of data retirement funds keep, particularly the Private Security Sector Provident Fund (PSSPF). In response, the PSSPF initiated a data cleansing drive, which remains ongoing. Encouragingly, this effort led to notable improvements in data quality,” she says.

As a result, 428 of the 531 previously published employers listed were identified as deregistered according to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) registry.

With the inclusion of the Auto Workers and Motor Industry Provident Funds, Tsuene says total arrears are now estimated at R7.23 billion, of which R2.98 billion is attributable to late payment interest.

“It is important to note that while some employers may settle outstanding contributions, they may not fully pay the late payment interest levied.”

ALSO READ: Adjudicator reports Local Authorities Pension Fund for misconduct

FSCA and Treasury recovered millions for employers of municipalities that failed to pay

Tsuene also pointed out that millions owed to members and retirement funds were recovered working with National Treasury through strategic withholding of equitable share allocations, compelling municipalities to make the necessary third-party payments.

Municipalities are also a big culprit in failing to pay over their employees’ contributions, with the biggest average arrears amount of R3.3 million per member, Tsuene says. They are still in arrears with R1.5 billion, affecting 12 000 members.

Tsuene says the FSCA reported the problem with municipalities’ contribution to National Treasury, triggering the withholding of equitable share from non-compliant municipalities. As a result, some of the affected municipalities have now settled or arranged payments, with one fund reporting that R39 million was paid between November 2024 and April 2025. About R50 million was recouped.

There was also an increase from 113 SAPS cases in the December 2023 publication to 1 010 in this publication. The FSCA is working with the police to train officers on handling these cases. In addition, almost 1 200 employers were referred to Sars for possible contraventions of the Income Tax Act.

ALSO READ: 149 municipalities are R1.4 billion in arrears on their pension fund payments

FSCA working with department of labour on pension fund payment problem

The department of employment and labour also engaged the FSCA regarding amendments to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act to:

• Empower the Labour Court, CCMA, or bargaining councils to order employers to pay outstanding pension contributions (with interest as per section 13A)
• Strengthen the enforcement of pension contributions and grant labour inspectors powers to monitor the payment of contributions
• Hold various engagements with the NPA and Hawks to prepare a briefing note with a list of cases opened by retirement funds at various police stations, requesting that this contravention be considered a priority.

There were also arrests in two Northern Cape municipalities, Thembelihle and Kheis. A director of Defensor Security also appeared in the Kimberly High Court in 2022 for arrears exceeding R14 million. The matter is still ongoing but Tsuene pointed out that the director was recently found guilty of fraud in a separate matter.

The FSCA continues to engage with key stakeholders, including the National Treasury, Auditor-General, law enforcement agencies, and the department of labour, to ensure accountability and protect the interests of retirement fund members, Tsuene says

The publication is available on the FSCA website: FSCA Communication 18 of 2025 (RF.