A man has lost his bid to recover a death benefit of more than R15 000 linked to his late mother's provident fund after the Financial Services Tribunal found that his complaint was lodged years too late.

The tribunal dismissed Simon Khoza's application for reconsideration of a Pension Funds Adjudicator decision that had refused to investigate his complaint concerning his mother's pension benefit.

The Mercury reports that Khoza's mother had left her employment in August 2006 and died in July 2007.

According to the ruling, a representative of her former employer had indicated she had held Group Life Cover and a provident fund with a death benefit. The representative allegedly undertook to assist the family in obtaining payment, but Khoza said this assistance never materialised.

Khoza approached the adjudicator.

However, the fund said family members had received payments between 2007 and 2010, although Khoza was unsure of the exact amounts.

The fund's records showed that the deceased's provident fund value was R82 901 in 2007. By 2012, the amount had grown with interest to R152 356.

A resolution passed in September 2012 authorised the distribution of the amount in equal shares among the deceased's five children.

Khoza's complaint to the adjudicator was lodged in November 2025. The adjudicator found that the complaint was outside the statutory time limit and therefore could not be investigated.

Khoza then approached the Financial Services Tribunal, arguing for reconsideration of the decision.

The tribunal found that Khoza's claim had prescribed and dismissed the application.

Full report in The Mercury