In what has been described as a groundbreaking judgment regarding the distribution of pension fund death benefits, the Constitutional Court has ruled that dependency must be assessed based on facts at the date of a fund members death, not at the time decisions are made as to how the funds are to be distributed.
Tshifhiwa Shembry Mutsila was married in a civil marriage to Takalani Emmanuel Mutsila who died in a workplace accident in December 2012.
Mutsila and the deceased had five children, whose ages of April 2014 ranged from nine to 23, and all of whom were learners and dependent on their parents when their father died.