An administrator runs a retirement fund’s day-to-day work under contract. It is not the fund, and knowing the difference is what gets your query answered.
ContactDetails.co.za is an independent directory. We are not any of the companies listed here and cannot act on your behalf. Everything on this page is a routing aid so you reach the right official channel with the right information in hand.
Who actually handles this
The administrator handles member records, claims and the call centre. The fund is the legal entity holding your money, run by trustees. GEPF is administered by the GPAA; many private funds are administered by Alexforbes, Sanlam or Momentum. One administrator services many different funds, which is why it needs the fund’s name to find you.
What to do, in order
- Find both names on your benefit statement: the fund, and the administrator.
- Contact the administrator using the fund’s name and your membership number.
- For a complaint about how the fund is run, or about a trustee decision, the fund’s own complaints process is the route rather than the administrator’s call centre.
- If the fund’s process does not resolve it, the Adjudicator takes complaints against funds free of charge.
What to have ready before you make contact
- The fund’s name.
- Your membership or reference number.
- Your ID number.
- Your benefit statement, which carries both names.
Verified fund routes
Every route in this table was taken from the organisation’s own official contact page and checked on 21 August 2026. Contact details change, so confirm on the official site before relying on one for anything urgent.
| What it is for | Contact |
|---|---|
| GEPF toll free call centre | 0800 117 669 |
| GEPF general email | [email protected] |
| Private Security Sector Provident Fund | 010 600 1750 |
| Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council | 011 639 8000 |
Complaints against a fund
| What it is for | Contact |
|---|---|
| Pension Funds Adjudicator, toll free | 080 074 4444 |
| Pension Funds Adjudicator switchboard | 012 748 4000 |
| Pension Funds Adjudicator, alternate | 012 346 1738 |
| Pension Funds Adjudicator enquiries email | [email protected] |
Fund, administrator, employer: who holds what
- The fund holds your money. It is a separate legal entity registered under the Pension Funds Act and run by a board of trustees, and it survives the employer closing, being sold or being renamed.
- The administrator runs the fund’s day-to-day work under contract: member records, claims and the call centre. GEPF is administered by the GPAA; many private funds are administered by Alexforbes, Sanlam or Momentum. One administrator services many funds, which is why it needs the fund’s name to find you, not just your ID number.
- Your employer pays contributions over and certifies your exit. This is where most delayed claims actually sit, and it is the cheapest thing to check first.
- The trustees make the decisions the law reserves for them, including how a death benefit is distributed. Neither the administrator nor the employer makes that call.
- The Pension Funds Adjudicator resolves complaints against funds free of charge, and its determinations bind the fund. The FSCA regulates funds and runs a free public search for unclaimed benefits.
Your benefit statement names both the fund and the administrator, and carries your member number. Those three pieces of information answer most of what follows, and without the fund’s name an administrator often cannot locate you at all.
Common mistakes that cost time
- Contacting an administrator without knowing which fund you are in. It services many, and cannot search them all by ID.
- Treating the administrator as the decision maker. Trustee decisions, including death benefit allocations, are the fund’s.
- Assuming a change of administrator means your benefit moved. The fund keeps the money; only the servicing changes.
- Complaining to the administrator about a trustee decision, which it did not make.
If it is not resolved
The Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator resolves complaints against retirement funds, free of charge to the complainant, and its determinations are legally binding on the fund. It will not take a complaint that has not been put to the fund first, so lodge with the fund, keep the reference number, and give it a reasonable opportunity to respond before approaching the Adjudicator.
Escalation works on evidence. Keep a short written log of every contact: the date, the channel you used, the name of the person you spoke to and the reference number you were given. Every formal complaints process asks for exactly that history, and having it ready is usually the difference between a fast resolution and starting over.
Related contact pages
- Retirement Funds
- Insurance Medical Aid Retirement Contact Details
- Pension Fund Death Benefit Contact Details
- Verify Before You Pay
- Gepf Contact Details
- Gepf Self Service Contact Details
- Government Pension Fund Contact Details
- How to verify a contact number before you use it
Frequently asked questions
Is the administrator the same as the fund?
No. The fund holds your money and is run by trustees; the administrator runs the day-to-day work under contract.
My fund changed administrators. Is my money safe?
The fund still holds your benefit. A change of administrator changes who services your record, not who holds the money.
Who decides a death benefit?
The fund’s trustees, under section 37C of the Pension Funds Act, not the administrator.
The contact routes on this page were checked against each organisation’s official source on 21 August 2026. Where a detail has changed, the official source is always the authority.