Amended Fund Rules

Amended Fund Rules

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Dear Member/ Pensioner,

 

The Eskom Pension and Provident Fund (“EPPF” or “the Fund”) has amended its Fund Rules, effective 1 April 2021. The Rules were amended and submitted to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (the “FSCA”) in the first quarter of 2021, and the FCSA has subsequently approved the Rules. 

 

 

Why the change?

The previous set of Rules came into effect in 2012 and was followed by two rule amendments in 2017 and 2019. Retirement funds usually update and refresh their rules to reflect legislative changes, consolidate previous amendments and remove any outdated provisions. This exercise has allowed us to undergo such an update as well as to examine certain areas of the Rules to reflect the principles of Treating Customers Fairly.

 

What has changed?

Apart from removing redundant provisions, incorporating the rule amendments from 2017 and 2019 and aligning the Rules with legislative changes since the 2012 version was drafted, there has been two changes to deferred pensioner benefits as follows:

  • Prior to the amendment, deferred pensioners could not take their accumulated money purchase balance out of the Fund, i.e. they were required to retire within the EPPF and become an in-fund pensioner.  The amended Rules allow deferred pensioners to either transfer their entire benefit to another approved fund or to take their benefit as a cash payment, subject to the applicable tax, before reaching retirement age.
  • After a deferred pensioner retires, if that member subsequently passes away within five years of retiring and has no dependants, then the estate of the late pensioner will receive the balance of the five years’ worth of pension payments.

We will issue a more detailed communication to deferred members tabling the change and how it affects their membership and benefits. 

 

Where can I find the Fund Rules?

The latest set of Rules have been published on the Fund website. In the latest Rules, the full list of changes and resolutions by the Board is included in the first few pages.  The 2021 Fund Rules can be found here

 

Please note that the previous versions and amendments of the Rules are now deemed redundant and have therefore been superseded by the current version which is effective from 1 April 2021. These old versions and amendments of the Rules will be published in an archive section shortly, but are available to members upon request in the interim.

 

Regards,

Eskom Pension and Provident Fund

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