Pre-Retirement Access to Retirement Fund Savings: Notice of Tabling Pension Fund Amendment Bill in Parliament

National Treasury has issued a notice of its intention to table the Pension Funds Amendment Bill in Parliament’s National Assembly in November 2023. The stated purpose of the Amendment Bill is to provide for the first phase of the implementation of the two-pot retirement system.

It should be noted that while the stated intention has been for the system to take effect on 1 March 2024, National Treasury has now proposed to parliament’s standing committee on finance, that the implementation date be delayed until 1 March 2025, in order to give the retirement fund industry more time to make the administrative changes necessary to implement the system.  It was also proposed that the monetary cap on the seed capital (amount immediately accessible for withdrawal)  be increased from R25 000.00 to R30 000.00.

These are only proposals at this stage, and it remains to be seen whether it will be accepted by the standing committee.

Members will be notified once the Amendment Bill becomes available and is tabled in Parliament.