Payment delays of VR Laser Services member provident funds by SANLAM

I am a former monthly paid employee of the now defunct VR Laser Services and we were retrenched after the business rescue efforts failed. SANLAM were the employee provident fund manager and the fund had gone into arrears because of 4 months non-payment of contributing member remunerations by by the distressed employer.

We were thereafter unfortunately retrenched in July 2018 after the business rescue efforts failed and we tried to either withdraw our provident funds but SANLAM refused to process our requests citing the funds arrears. However the arrears were initially expected to be paid by the business rescue practitioners from the company assets & machinery auction proceeds but it turned that not enough money was raised at the auction with the only money that was raised all paid to a secured creditor. The business rescue practitioners accordingly the addressed to SANLAM an instruction that member funds must be released with immediate effect since there's no cer*****y as to when expected additional company money will be available to clear the fund arrears and the practitioners explanation was that it was only prudent since most of the members who are breadwinners are now unemployed and need a means of livelihood for the families.

However up to now SANLAM is still unwilling to payout the member funds as requested by the business rescue practitioner more than once and neither has SANLAM bothered to update the individual members of a possible way forward to alleviate the unemployed member's plight.