Robben Island Museum's former CFO loses bid to unfreeze pension after fraud allegations.
The Pension Funds Adjudicator has dismissed a bid by the former Chief Financial Officer of Robben Island Museum to unfreeze his withdrawal benefit of R389,534.33, ruling that the fund was justified in withholding the money pending criminal proceedings against him.
Adjudicator Lebogang Mogashoa found that Robben Island Museum had established a prima facie case of dishonesty against the former CFO, who is accused of falsely claiming membership of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) at the time of his appointment.
The complainant worked for the museum from 1 June 2023 to 12 June 2025 and was a member of the Alexander Forbes Retirement Fund. He was dismissed for alleged fraud following a disciplinary hearing, after which the museum asked the fund to withhold his withdrawal benefit on 13 July 2025.
The museum told the fund it had suffered losses because the complainant was paid more than R2 million for a position he was not qualified to hold. It said that for the period 6 December 2022 to 12 June 2025, he earned a total of R4,353,711.84 under false pretences, and that its estimated damages, including legal costs, ran to roughly R3 million, exceeding the value of his pension benefit.
