How is the approved death benefit from my retirement fund paid?

The benefit is allocated and paid to your dependants and/or nominees as determined by the Board of Trustees.
The Pension Funds Act prescribes that it is the trustees’ duty to find and identify all your dependants and nominated beneficiaries. Once they have this information, the trustees must allocate and pay the fund benefit on a basis they deem fair.
The person/s you nominated on your beneficiary nomination form will be taken into account during this allocation process.
It is essential that you explain to the trustees the reasons for your nomination and in cases where you nominate a person that is not your dependant, explain why a benefit should be allocated to that person and not your dependants.
If you did not nominate anybody, the benefit will be paid to your estate.