I have not received my Provident Fund payout after 10 months. What should I do?

The long answer

That does sound like an extremely long time. Normally it should not take more than 4 to 8 weeks, if your tax affairs are in order, but if you belong to a bargaining council fund, there is usually a compulsory waiting period which can be up to six months long.

The process of paying out your provident fund only starts once the provident fund administrator has received your final contribution as well as the fully completed withdrawal forms and copy of your ID. The administrator sends it to SARS and SARS sends back a tax directive telling them how much tax must be withheld from your payment.

You could contact the Provident Fund and ask why you have not yet received your money. You should give them your ID number, your dates of employment and when you were retrenched. Your employer should be able to give you the contact details of the provident fund administrator.