The fourth volume of Open Secrets’ Who Owns South Africa? (WOSA) series shines the spotlight on financial services companies that administer South Africa’s pension funds. It shows how the management and investment of these funds reflects both historical and ongoing patterns of inequality and injustice.
Our findings show that, as in other parts of the economy, a small group of financial services providers increasingly benefit from the sector – often at the expense of individual fund members and the wider public.
The report also highlights more than R51 billion in unclaimed retirement benefits owed to approximately 4.3 million people in South Africa and neighbouring countries, underscoring a persistent and unresolved injustice.
At the same time, South Africa’s pension funds hold nearly R6 trillion in assets. How these funds are invested has significant social, economic, and environmental implications. Yet, they are largely directed toward individual short-term financial returns rather than long-term national priorities for the public, such as the just energy transition.
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