About The Mineworkers Provident Fund - MWPF

The Mineworkers Provident Fund (‘Fund’) was established on 14 June 1989 with the main objective of providing benefitsformembers on retirement and for dependants of members who die in service. The Fund is a defined contribution Fund. The member’s retirement benefit is dependent on the contributions made and the investment growth thereon.



MINEWORKERS PROVIDENT FUND
3rd & 4th Floor
26 Ameshoff Street
Braamfontein, 2001
Johannesburg
South Africa
Principal Officer (PO)
clientservices@mineworkers.co.za
Switchboard: +27 (0)10 100-3000
Contact Us

General Information & F.A.Q.


Key Knowledge & Responses to Frequently Asked Questions

Nomination of beneficiaries

It is important that members complete a new “Nomination of Beneficiaries” form each time their circumstances change, i.e. in the event of the birth of a child, divorce, marriage or change in any nominated beneficiaries. This form will assist the Trustees in their decision when distributing a deceased member’s benefit.

Home Loans

The facility to offer members housing loan does exist in the Fund. Loans are offered in line with section 19(5) of the Pension Funds Act. The Act sets out conditions for the loans and the loans must be used for housing purposes only. Any abuse of the housing loan facility will attract severe consequences.


Pension Backed Lending (PBL) loans application procedure changed with effect from 1 June 2007 because of the implementation of the National Credit Act (NCA). The NCA was signed into law on 15 March 2006 with an effective date of 1 June 2007. The aim of the NCA isto prohibit unfair credit practices, misleading creditmarketing and reckless credit granting.

Pension Funds Adjudicator

The office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator (PFA) was established on 1 January 1998, as an independent and unbiased ombudsman for the retirement fund industry. Members, former members, beneficiaries, former beneficiaries, Participating Employers, Board of Trustees, or anybody with vested interest in the Fund can lodge a claim.

This is a cost effective way of resolving Fund’s disputes compared to hiring of lawyers. The process that must be followed is that a complainant must first write to the Fund, if no response is received within 30 days or the complainant is not satisfied by the response, the complainant can then lodge a complaint with the adjudicator.

For further information on the Provident Funds Adjudicator, please visit the FSB’s website www.fsb.co.za, the PFA’s website www.pfa.org.za or contact them directly using the address in Section 8 of this report.


Voluntary contribution

An extra allocation of funds to a retirement fund benefit.The additional benefit contributions are the members’ responsibility and will not be matched by the employer

Beneficiary Nomination Form

Each year, you are required to nominate the person/s who must be paid, in the event of your death prior to retirement at the age and while you are still in the service of the mine. The information provided in this form will be used to help the trustees of the Fund with the fair distribution among your dependants of the benefits payable on your death and used only a guideline as the trustees are required, in the event of your death, to distribute the benefits in accordance with the provisions of the Pension Funds Act.

Benefit statements

Each year members will receive a benefit statement telling them how much they have contributed, and what their withdrawal, death and disability and retirement benefits amount to at the date of the statement. Members must check their details carefully and refer any queries or errors to the Human Resources Department.

Withdrawals

If a member elects to take cash benefits on leaving the Fund, these benefits will be subject to tax in terms of the Income Tax Act. If a member elects to preserve his benefits, payment of tax can be deferred. Members are encouraged to seek professional advice from a properly accredited financial advisor, prior to the payment of a benefit from the Fund.

Family Assistance Benefit

The Fund offers a Family Assistance Benefit (FAB) through its Group Risk Benefit service provider,Momentum, which can be accessed 24 hour/365 days a year that provides invaluable support to members during traumatic life events. The FAB provides help in many ways:

On Bereavement:

  • Repatriation – to ensure the deceased is safely returned home for burial;
  • Funeral assistance – to help with funeral arrangements for the deceased;
  • Legal advice – in the form of legal assistance provided by admitted attorneys;
  • Bereavement counselling – in the form of face-to-face counselling services for support and advice
  • Ontraumasuchasrape,assault,etc.:

  • Trauma, assault and HIV counselling
  • Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
  • All these services are available to the member and immediate family including spouse, children parents and parents-in-law. In case of traumatic event, help can be reached on 086 166 6111 (Call Centre Number).