| (1) | Save to the extent permitted by this Act, the Income Tax Act, 1962 (Act No. 58 of 1962), and the Maintenance Act, 1998, no benefit provided for in the rules of a registered fund (including an annuity purchased or to be purchased by the said fund from an insurer for a member), or right to such benefit, right in respect of contributions made by or on behalf of a member, shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the rules of such a be capable of being reduced, transferred or otherwise ceded, or of being pledged or hypothecated, or be liable to be attached or subjected to any form of execution under a judgment or order of a court of law, or to the extent of not more than three thousand rand per annum, be capable of being taken into account in a determination of a judgment debtor's financial position in terms of section 65 of the Magistrates' Courts Act, 1944 (Act No. 32 of 1944), and in the event of the member or beneficiary concerned attempting to transfer or otherwise cede, or to pledge or hypothecate, such benefit or right, the concerned may withhold or suspend payment thereof: Provided that the fund may pay any such benefit or any benefit in pursuance of such contributions, or part thereof, to any one or more of the dependants of the member or beneficiary or to a guardian or trustee for the benefit of such dependant or dependants during such period as it may determine. |
| (a) | If in terms of the rules of a fund the residue of a full benefit, after deduction of any debt due by the person entitled to the benefit, represents the benefit due to that person, such reduction shall for the purposes of subsection (1) be construed as a reduction of the benefit. |
| (b) | The set-off of any debt against a benefit shall for the purposes of subsection (1) be construed as a reduction of the benefit. |
| (3) | The provisions of subsection (1) shall not apply with reference to anything done towards reducing or obtaining settlement of a debt— |
| (a) | which, in the case of a fund to which the Financial Institutions Amendment Act, 1976 (Act No. 101 of 1976), applies, arose before the commencement of that Act; |
| (b) | which, in the case of a fund to which the Financial Institutions Amendment Act, 1976, does not apply, arose before the commencement of the Financial Institutions Amendment Act, 1977; |
| (c) | which a fund may reduce or settle under section 37D to the extent to which a fund may reduce or settle such debt; or |
| (d) | which is owed to a fund by a member in respect of arrear contributions, but excluding which are in arrear due to the failure of the employer concerned to pay the member's contributions to the fund after deduction thereof from the member's remuneration. |
| (a) | Despite the provisions of this section, a fund may direct that a member's or beneficiary's benefit may be paid to a third party if that member or beneficiary provides sufficient proof that he or she is not able to open a bank account. |
| (b) | Any such payment must be regarded as being a payment to that member or beneficiary. |
[Section 37A(4) inserted by section 50 of Act No. 45 of 2013]
