MEPF IS NOT UNDER ADMINISTRATION IT IS FUNCTIONING PROPERLY UNDER A DULY ELECTED BOARD OF TRUSTEES
08 MAY 2024
It has come to the attention of the Board of Trustees of the Municipal Employees Pension Fund (MEPF) that Ndou Attorneys, an unknown Johannesburg law firm, paid for an
advertorial in the Sowetan edition of 30 April 2024, claiming that the MEPF has been placed under administration by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) due to the Board not being properly constituted.
We want to place it on record that the MEPF has not been "placed under administration", assuggested by Ndou Attorneys and their fellow travellers. The truth is the FSCA has simply made an (erroneous and unlawful) decision that there were some procedural shortcomings in what some of the municipalities (employers) have done. Moreover, the implementation of the decision by the FSCA has been suspended by agreement and thus the MEPF Board continues to perform its functions as duly elected fiduciaries.
We would like our members to take note of the fact that the reconsideration application (and the underlying alleged procedural shortcomings) to the Financial Services Tribunal (FST) by the FSCA has nothing to do with the administering of pension funds, in the practical or individual sense. Furthermore, we want to assure you that the matters are being handled by our attorneys.
The current Board of Trustees continues to discharge their duties in accordance with their mandate as they were elected by the structures of the Fund in 2021.
It is clear that there is a concerted malicious campaign which is hellbent on sowing division and causing confusion among the members of the MEPF. Any incitement of division of the membership of the MEPF will not be tolerated by the Board of Trustees.
As Trustees, we have open channels of communication where members can raise issues openly. And we have the capacity to address these issues as and when they arise. Ndou
Attorneys has no authority to deal with member issues nor are they a structure within the Fund. We urge our members not to entertain them.
