Is the Consistent Regulation of Death Benefits in South Africa A Pipe Dream?

Abstract This paper demonstrates the fragmented regulation of the allocation of retirement funds’ death benefits in South Africa. It highlights a concerning trend where some judges do not refer to and apply the correct legislative provisions when adjudicating death benefits, leading to the inconsistent development of the death benefit jurisprudence in South Africa. The paper argues that there is a need to amend different pension-related statutes to provide for identical death benefit provisions. The paper further demonstrates that section 37C of the Pension Funds Act has been made a default provision for the regulation of death benefits, thereby creating an illusion that this provision is the generally applicable death benefit provision in South Africa even for retirement funds not regulated by the PFA .