Poor service process on pension payout.

Good Morning

My name is Xoliswa Lungi Mchunu and I am writing this because of the frustration & the disappointment that I have experienced with the way my pension application has been handled. I resigned from my department & filled in all the necessary forms and handed everything in on the 5th of March to my HR. I served my notice until the 31st March 2018.

On the 11th of April 2018 I went to GEPF personally to check if my application has been received only to find out it wasn't. I went to my HR to enquire and I was informed that they were waiting for me to serve my notice and that they also had to an audit. On the 15th April I was told that my application has been sent to GEPF.

On the 25th of April I went back again to GEPF to check if everything is in order and that my application has been received and I was told yes the application was received and that the turn around time is 60 days. Few days later I got the 1st SMS that my application has been returned and that I should contact my HR, the following day I went to HR, I was told that the Z102 was missing. On the 25th of April my application was sent back again to GEPF.

On the 14th of May I received the 2nd SMS that GPAA returned my application and that I should contact my HR, the following day I went to HR and I was told that my divorce decree wasn't certified of which I did certify it and it was sent the very same day by my HR and on the 15th of May I received another SMS that GPAA has receive my application and that further notifications will follow in due course. Then to makes things worse then they already were, on the 30th of May I got the 3rd SMS again that my application has been returned for the 3rd time and that I should contact my HR again of which I did. Then on the 4th of June I got an SMS informing me that my application has been received by GPAA and that further notifications will follow in due course.

What frustrates me the most is the fact that when the application has been returned back to HR when it goes back to GEPF the system automatically captures it as the new application of which it is very unfair, which means that again I have to wait for another 60 days for the supposedly "turn around time".

I feel that this is so unprofessional & *********** & frastrating at the same time because now i have to wait another 60 of which is the time I do not have my bills keep on polling up.

Why is that when the application is being handled for the first times it's being received, why is it not being picked up all at once that the application has errors and that it's dealt with there and there at once.

I am really disappointed and unhappy in which this whole process has been handled and it doesn't make sense that I have to keep on being told that I have to wait another 60 days whenever an error has been picked & rectified. I am extremely frustrated because I have bills and responsibilities and the more it gets delayed the more my life gets stressed out. I feel that this whole process needs to be reviewed & someone @ GEPF needs to go back to the drawing board & find a way for the system to pick up all the errors at once rather then being taken from pillar to post and for those errors to be fixed at once all of them.

I am really really not happy with service that I have received so far at GEPF/GPAA because I really don't know who to blame now because this is really stressing me a lot. What makes my blood boil even more is the fact that when the error has been fixed, when GEPF receives the application it treats it like it's the first time it's been submitted.

I cannot stress enough the frustration that I have with the department & I feel that this can be fixed if only someone can take responsibility & do what is supposed to be done in a timely manner because some of us don't have the luxury of waiting more than 60 days for the whole process to be finalized & for the money to be paid out.

Your prompt response in this regard will be highly appreciated and I hope this case will be dealt with as a matter of urgency.

My persal number: ********** 8 My pension number: ********** 8

Thanking you in advance Xoliswa L. Mchunu