Daughter's challenge to father's R14.8 million pension distribution dismissed by the Financial Service Tribunal.
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The Financial Services Tribunal has dismissed an application by Puni Modiboa to challenge the distribution of a multi-million-rand pension death benefit following the death of her father, ruling that her request lacked merit.
The Tribunal rejected Modiboa’s attempt to overturn a ruling by the Pension Funds Adjudicator (PFA) regarding the allocation of a R14.89 million death benefit from the Sentinel Pension Fund after the death of Mr MG Phillips in June 2021.
The dispute centred on the distribution of the deceased member’s pension benefit among several dependants in terms of Section 37C of the Pension Funds Act, which requires pension fund trustees to distribute death benefits equitably among dependants rather than strictly following a beneficiary nomination.
Following an investigation into the deceased’s dependants, the fund’s board ultimately allocated the benefit primarily to the deceased’s minor children, awarding them 34% and 22% respectively, while Modiboa, an adult daughter, received 8% of the benefit — almost R1.19 million.
Modiboa challenged the decision, arguing that the board relied on incorrect information about her financial situation and wrongly concluded that she was financially independent at the time of her father’s death. She maintained that she had been unemployed and financially dependent on him.
After reviewing the complaint, the PFA dismissed Modiboa’s claim in May 2025, finding that the fund had conducted a proper investigation and had reasonably prioritised the needs of the deceased’s minor children.
The adjudicator also held that the fund was not bound by a 2008 nomination form that had allocated 20% of the benefit to Modiboa, noting that the circumstances of the deceased’s family had changed significantly since the form was completed.
Modiboa then approached the tribunal seeking reconsideration of the adjudicator’s decision. However, the application was filed 97 days after the statutory 60-day deadline, prompting her to seek condonation for the delay.
The tribunal found her explanation for the delay — which she attributed to the withdrawal of her attorneys — to be inconsistent with the available correspondence and insufficient to justify the late filing.
In assessing the merits of the case, the tribunal found that Modiboa failed to demonstrate that she was financially dependent on her father at the time of his death.
Documents she relied on included:
a 2014 university payment, which the tribunal said was too old to prove dependency in 2021;
an unfinalised property purchase allegedly intended for her; and
bank statements from 2024–2025, which the tribunal said were irrelevant because dependency must be assessed at the date of death.
The tribunal emphasised that pension fund trustees have broad discretion when distributing death benefits, provided they conduct a proper investigation and consider relevant factors such as dependency, age, financial circumstances and the deceased’s wishes.
It found that the Sentinel Pension Fund had followed the required process and had reasonably prioritised the long-term needs of the deceased’s minor children.
The tribunal ultimately ruled that Modiboa had no reasonable prospects of success in challenging the adjudicator’s decision.
“The fund’s investigation and final distribution were rational, fair, and aligned with the spirit of the Pension Funds Act,” the tribunal held.
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za
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