Fund Procedures

Methods for Submitting Application Forms

• Application Forms must be forwarded (posted or delivered) to the Pensions Administration Head Office. No faxed or photostatted copies will be considered.
• If any general correspondence that is related to new or existing case is forwarded to Pensions Administration without the main application form, sufficient detail of the relevant member must be provided to identify the member on the Pensions Administration system. These details include the following: Name, Middle Names, Surname, ID or Passport Number, Member or Pension Number, Salary Number and Date of Birth. The entity submitting the correspondence must also provide the Name of the Entity, Employer Code (in case of a Government Employer) and the necessary contact details.
• The Pensions Administration put a date-stamp on all correspondence as soon as it is received. This is to ensure that cases are handled within the timeframe prescribed by the acts and regulations of the fund. 
• The employer is responsible for ensuring that the necessary correspondence is submitted to Pensions Administration timeously. No intermediate entities, other than the government employers, will be recognised as official Pensions Administration Agents.
• All correspondence with the Pensions Administration is scanned and indexed electronically. Character recognition of the text on the forms is done. This emphasises the need for submitting good quality documentation.
• Application Forms must ultimately be forwarded (posted of delivered) to the Pensions Administration Head Office. No faxed or photostated copy of Application Forms will be accepted for consideration. 
• The Pensions Administration date-stamp all correspondence as soon as it is received. This is done to ensure the handling of the cases is done within the timeframe prescribed by the acts and regulations of the fund. 
• It is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that the necessary correspondence is submitted to Pensions Administration timeously. Any changes to the status of information already submitted of the Employer or Member must also be forwarded promptly to the Pensions Administration using the applicable forms and methods. 
• All inbound correspondence to the Pensions Administration are scanned and indexed electronically. 

Completing application forms

• Only the list of application forms indicated in this manual may be used. Only the latest version of each form will be accepted. 
• The instructions on the overleaf for each application form indicate how to complete the form.
• The application forms and attachments that are submitted to the Pensions Administration must be of good quality. Text must be legible and pictures visible. If documents are of poor quality, new forms and/or attachments must be obtained and completed. This applies particularly to copies of existing documents. Poor quality documents will result in errors and will delay the processing of the application.
• All documents and supporting documents for the same application form must be stapled together. 
• Where particulars are incorrect, outdated or changed after the original submission, the relevant Personnel Office should make the necessary corrections directly on the Payroll Administration System and re-submit the required documentation. The new set of documents must clearly be marked as “Revised Version” on top of the main document.
• No alterations must be made on a form. “Tippex” may not be used to alter or amend documents. 
• One character must appear in each of the blocks that make up the field value. Use CAPITAL LETTERS and a black ink pen. The text must stay within the boundaries of the block for each character. 
• Complete the date field as follows:
  Century Character 1, Century Character 2, Year Character 1, Year Character 2, Month Character 1, Month Character 2, Day Character 1 and Day Character 2 (CCYYMMDD). Where the month and day consist of one digit only, zeros must be placed in front of the number. For example:

  C	C	Y	Y	M	M	D	D
  2	0	0	2	0	1	0	4

• Complete financial values as follows:
  Use a single digit in each block from left to right. Do not indicate the currency, as all values must use the South African rand. Include two zeroes for amounts with no cents. Do not use any marking between the rands and cents. For example:

  R	R	R	R	R	R	C	C
  		2	0	0	0	5	5

• The blocks must be filled in from left to right. Open blocks must not be supplemented with zeros, except as indicated above.
• Please note that incorrect information could result in important information being forwarded to a wrong Department/Institution.