Pension

<p>My husband passed away on the 19 October 2014 in a car incident. I submitted pension fund docs to the department of education in Dundee in March 2015 reason being, I was hospitalized for three months. I did not receive any feedback from them, so I contacted them in September 2015 to find out the progress on the claim for my husband’s pension fund and when it will be paid out, and only to be told that the certified documents that I have submitted has expired. If I had not called I would have not known what was happening , the reason for the docs expiring was because they delayed the process. Being that this was a matter of urgency I got the documents certified again and handed it in to them in the March. After me submitting the documents to them again, nothing was done. I again followed up in March 2016 and the documents was still not loaded on their systems and was told that they were busy with the application even though nothing was done. I follow up again in May 2016 and spoke to the directors Pa Sizakele Zwane . Sizakele Zwane informed me that he spoke to Thandeka and Noma Buthelezi to load the docs and that when they started working on the application. I received and sms stating that the docs was loaded. I thereafter received a call from Thandeka in May informing me that the docs was sent to Pietermaritzburg department of education for verification. I received and sms within two days stating the docs have been verified and that they will be sending it to Pretoria to process for payment and submitting to SARS. I have been following up twice a week with the Pretoria branch from June up until 13 September 2016 when I was told that the date on the death certificate and the system does not correspond.</p> <p>I was told by Portia Mkhwazi from the Pretoria branch that the document needs to go back to the Dundee branch to be rectified. I called the Dundee branch and they say the document should be delivered to them by the end of this week but my concern is that the documents that are certified will expire at the end of this month if the process is not completed before that.</p> <p> </p> <p>I have been struggling to get this pension fund paid out for two years. I have been put at such an inconvenience financially and emotionally. I am now a single mom of three kids and struggling to get the bare necessities because of this. The department of education does not seem to care about how this is effecting my children and I. I was being assisted by family member but they can no longer help due to their own commitments and now I am really left stranded and helpless because of my financial situation. At the time of my husband’s passing away we were in the process of buying a house and that fell though, so now I also don’t have a place to stay with my three children.</p> <p> </p> <p>The least that the department could have done was make sure that my husband’s pension was paid out within a reasonable time, But right now, it shows very clearly that they don’t give a dam about my kids and I after my husband was employed by them for years. I have been going back and forth trying to sort this out and none of this cost is going to be refunded to me. I am not sure what more I am supposed to. This is effecting my health as well and I cannot afford to end up being admitted into hospital because of what is going to happen to my children.</p> <p> </p> <p>Can I please get assistance as soon as possible as I have run out of options.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>Regards</p> <p>Zandi Sibisi Dube</p> <p> </p>