The Mines 1970 Unclaimed Benefits Preservation Pension and Provident Funds (Mines 1970s Funds) have, in the past 25 months, improved their combined tracing rate to identify 62% of the total number of missing beneficiaries.

This has resulted in more than R60-million being paid out to beneficiaries over the same period. More than 19 000 of the beneficiaries traced have been identified as deceased.

The Mines 1970s Funds consist of 11 712 pension fund beneficiaries and 57 450 provident fund beneficiaries in South Africa, Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Mines 1970s Funds chairperson Sue Fritz says 73% of the pension fund beneficiaries and families of the deceased and 60% of provident fund beneficiaries and families have been identified. “We are extremely proud of our increased success rate, owing to expanded tracing initiatives.”

Tracing agents, who currently make personal visits to the homes of beneficiaries to help them complete application forms and obtain other supporting documentation, are assisting in identifying potential beneficiaries. The visits also save them phone, travel, photocopying and postage charges, considering such beneficiaries are likely to have limited financial resources.

The agents travel to urban and rural areas, which has helped accelerate the return of claim forms and their subsequent processing and payment. “It has also meant the exclusion of dubious agents who purport to act in the best interests of beneficiaries, but charge exorbitant agency fees to submit claim forms,” she points out.

Further, another tracing initiative will start in May, when the Mine 1970s Funds embark on roadshows in selected areas of South Africa. Secondary tracing initiatives are also ongoing, with 32% of the deceased beneficiaries’ dependants having been located and provided with claim forms.

Financial and risk services provider Alexander Forbes has been assisting the funds, since 2014 with innovative administrative systems to match the various tracing initiatives.

However, Fritz highlights that, historically, poor record-keeping by the mining industry and a large number of incomplete records continue to hamper tracing. “The lack of individual tax numbers remains a problem and the funds continue to engage with the South African Revenue Service on this issue.”

Missing essential documentation, such as copies of identity documents and service records, which are needed to finalise the processing of claims submitted directly to the funds, also regularly delay payment. “We continue to collaborate with other funds, including the Mineworkers Provident Fund, Sentinel Retirement Fund and Anglo American Platinum, and cross-check each other’s data,” she says.

Fritz adds that, with the assistance of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), the Mines 1970s Funds corroborate their data against the database of Sassa, thus helping to identify additional potential claimants. “As a social initiative, the funds have also assisted the Compensation Commission for Occupational Diseases by furnishing it with details of successful traces . . . to use for its own unclaimed compensation database.”