Does the board of a pension fund in South Africa perform a public function or exercise public power when determining death claims under section 37C of the Pension Funds Act?

Abstract

This article examines whether a board of a pension fund performs a public function or exercises public power when it determines death claims under section 37C of the Pension Funds Act (PFA). The article considers recent jurisprudence around this question by looking at cases that deal with the application of administrative law to private companies generally and cases dealing with pension fund and death benefits specifically. The article argues that since pension funds perform a public function when deciding on death claims under section 37C of the PFA, administrative law principles apply to control how those decisions are made.