Abstract
In the 1990s, South Africa went through sweeping constitutional and democratic reforms, which ended in the signing into law the South African Constitution. As a consequence of these reforms, new legislation was mandated by the Constitution and in some cases changes to existing legislation became necessary to ensure alignment with the new dispensation.
Highlights
In the 1990s, South Africa went through sweeping constitutional and democratic reforms, which ended in the signing into law the South African Constitution
In his study of dispute resolution in South Africa, Murphy correctly observes that during 1996, pursuant to political pressures to reform the pension funds industry and recommendations made by the Mouton Committee of Investigation into a Retirement Provision System for South Africa (Mouton Committee), the Pension Funds Act 24 of 1956 was amended to create the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator (OPFA) with the purpose to dispose of complaints against pension fund organisations or employers who participate in the funds.[4]
It is important to point out that the Mouton Committee recommended the establishment of an ombudsman for retirement funds because the Pension Funds Act did not make provision for the Financial Services Board (FSB) to settle disputes between pension fund members and their pension funds
Summary
In the 1990s, South Africa went through sweeping constitutional and democratic reforms, which ended in the signing into law the South African Constitution. The OPFA began its operations in 1998 after the first Adjudicator, Murphy, was appointed in that year.[24] Since commentators have remarked that the OPFA has created a forum allowing unrepresented litigants to challenge decisions of the pension fund organisations and employers who participate in them, which they otherwise could not pursue in the ordinary courts due to the high cost of legal services in South Africa.[25] they correctly maintain that the Adjudicator has played an important role in the development of pension jurisprudence, which was non-existent before 1998.26 as a creature of statute, questions remain around the scope of the jurisdiction of the Adjudicator.[27] As one commentator correctly observed, “when analysing the role of the Adjudicator, it is important not to confuse the jurisdiction with his power and functions”.28. The article argues that the preferred interpretation of the law is that the Adjudicator performs a judicial function
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