Two-pot frenzy: Alexforbes processes withdrawals of R400 million in a week

Retirement fund administrators say they have been overwhelmed by two-pot withdrawal claims as thousands of South Africans have chosen to withdraw from their retirement savings.

The new system allows South Africans to withdraw 10% of their previous retirement savings of up to R30 000, which will be taxed at a marginal rate.

A minimum withdrawal amount of R2 000 has been set.

With the new system entering its second week of implementation, SA's biggest retirement fund administrator, Alexforbes, has said it has processed more than 30 000 claims, worth R400 million in total.



Admin problems

In an email sent to its members this week, Alexforbes said two-pot queries have also started to cause administrative issues, with its online client platform seeing 560 000 interactions during the two weeks.

The administrator previously said it expects pension fund members to withdraw R55 billion in the first year of the two-pot's implementation. However, it has urged South Africans to withdraw from their retirement savings only for financial emergencies.

"We've had an incredibly busy week with a lot more people than we expected trying to access AF Connect. We are actively processing all the claims to a total value of over R400 million and still getting more. Because of this high demand, we’ve been having some technical issues that might have affected your ability to claim. We know this is frustrating, for which we apologise," it said in the email.



Rush

News24 previously reported that retirement fund managers had received a rush of queries since the two-pot system was introduced.

In the first two days, 190 000 Old Mutual clients used its dedicated two-pot WhatsApp channel, while Sanlam's corporate client call centre processed 5 500 two-pot withdrawal requests in the first two days.

Meanwhile, Metropolitan said more than 11 400 of its clients had accessed its two-pot chatbot function and completed the eligibility request in the first three days.

It also said that SARS tax directives for each claim had averaged 36%, indicating that most claimants had a monthly income of around R40 000.

"Despite the increasing financial burden on all South Africans, Metropolitan strongly advises the preservation of retirement policies wherever possible and recommends making withdrawals only after consulting with a financial advisor," it said in a statement this week.