Membership

Category C – Members can contribute either 7.5% or 9% of their pensionable salary dependent on your conditions of service.
Category A – Members contribute 2% of their pensionable salary

The administration cost which goes towards the day-to-day running of the fund only amounts to 0.5% of pensionable salary and is deducted from the employer contributions.

Member contributions + Employer contributions - Risk cover and administration cost + Investment returns = Fund credit

This is the costs that is deducted for the death, disability and funeral cover and is determined by the risk cover option elected by the member. The risk cover and administration costs are deducted from the employer contributions

Member and employer contributions are fixed and calculated on the member's pensionable salary. Members have the option to make Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) towards the fund to enhance their retirement savings. The monthly AVCs are deducted from the member's salary by the employer and paid to the fund and forms part of the member's fund credit to which monthly interest is allocated.
The member determines the additional amount he/she would like to contribute extra every month and arranges the deduction directly with the municipality's salary department by completing the Additional Voluntary Contribution Instruction-form.

The member is covered, and the benefit payable is determined by the risk option elected. Please note

• The disability benefit is subject to the insurer’s approval and reduces with 1.67% per month from age 60 to 65.
• Death benefit payments are subject to Section 37C of the Pension Fund’s Act, which means the last will and testament, although considered for information purposes, does not determine how a payment is made. The nomination form, however, plays an important role as it is used as an important guideline when the trustees decide on who the benefit should be paid out to.

Please update your beneficiary information. The information is treated as strictly confidential by the fund and the forms are available on the fund website and from the fund’s offices.

The member, spouse/registered life-partner and qualifying children are covered for the funeral benefits, irrespective of the risk cover option elected. Please refer to the brochures for the cover on Category C and Category A. NFMW-members have the option to make use of any of the voluntary funeral benefits, which include :

• Burial packages structured to your individual needs (Download brochure & Application form)
• Funeral cover for parents, parents-in-law and up to eight extended family members (Download brochure & Application form)
• Funeral cover conversion option which allows members to continue with their funeral cover when they resign, are retrenched or retire (Download application form).

These products are voluntary and, should any of the products be taken up by an NFMW-member, the relevant agreement will be between the member and the service provider and falls outside the rules of the fund. The number of family members you wish to insure and the amount and type of cover/burial package you choose, will determine the monthly premium payable to the external service provider by direct debit order. Please refer to the brochures above for costs and the applicable policy terms and conditions

Members must ensure that their life partners are registered with the fund, by completing and submitting the Application for Registration of a Life Partner-form to qualify for the funeral benefit. The qualifying spouse/life partner must be older than 15 and younger than the age of 75 when a member joins the fund to qualify for the funeral benefit.

• Check your latest benefit statement, it will provide you with the risk cover category as at the date of the statement, including the death and disability benefit payable.
• Contact the fund's offices telephonically, via e-mail to info@nationalfund.co.za or through the Contact us-form on the fund's website.
• Members registered for the interactive service can view their risk cover category online.

Members have an option to change your risk category twice a year effective 1 January or 1 July and when your personal status changes. Medical underwriting may be required for changes. Click here to download the forms for Category C and Category A.

Death, disability, and funeral cover cease when a member ends service or at age 65. Should a member die whilst in service his family will remain covered for the funeral benefit until the member would have attained the age of 65.

There are no penalties, the fund credit becomes payable as a lumpsum. The benefit is subject to tax.

Normal retirement age in the fund is at the age of 65 years, but a member can go on early retirement from the age of 55.

Benefit payments at retirement:

• Members who were 55 years and older on 1 March 2021 will have the option to have the full retirement benefit paid to them as a lump sum (if they remain a member of the NFMW until they retire).


• Members who were younger than 55 years on 1 March 2021 can choose to have their benefits accumulated before 1 March 2021 plus interest on that benefit, paid as a cash lump sum, when they retire. However, only one-third of the benefit accumulated after 1 March 2021 can be paid as a cash lump sum and two-thirds must be used to purchase a pension. If the benefit accumulated after 1 March 2021 is less than R247 500, the member can choose to be paid the total/full benefit as cash lump sum.


• (Category E members may only take only one-third of the benefit as a cash lump sum and two-thirds must be used to purchase a pension. If the benefit accumulated is less than R247 500, the member can choose to be paid the total/full benefit as cash lump sum)

Click here for more information on the NFMW-post retirement options

Did you know? The National Fund for Municipal Workers is registered as a Paragraph A-fund, which allows for a special tax dispensation for members with service years prior to March 1998.