Last week National Treasury announced that it was postponing the the implementation of the proposed two-pot pension fund system by a year, following public consultations in September regarding the proposed system. Initiation is now set for 1 March 2025.

It makes sense as the final legislation has yet to be issued, and parliamentary approval is still required before the industry will have total certainty of what it all entails. And industry players who Personal Finance spoke with on this very podcast in the past, have said that there was no way they would be ready for implementation by March next year.

There is an extensive legislative process which still needs to unfold. The revised Revenue Laws Amendment Bill and amendments to the Pension Funds Act were only issued in June this year and pension fund players are still awaiting a final response document from Treasury before it can further clarify matters raised as part of industry submissions and through the parliamentary process.

Final legislation may only be available in early 2024, and much more engagement between industry and the Treasury, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) are still required bodies throughout the process.

Based on draft legislation, some of the big changes in store for the financial services sector include administration systems, processes, digital solutions and applications, member experience and communication, advice and guidance to trustees and management committees, advice and guidance to members, as well as legal and regulatory matters, including rule amendments, solutions and services.

Whether organised labour will accept the delayed access to savings in an election year is a story for another day.

In the interim, we have Vickie Lange, Head of Best Practice at Alexforbes in studio today, to take us through the other key announcements made during the recent parliamentary briefing.

PERSONAL FINANCE