The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has ordered the curators of the Cadac Pension Fund to address a long-running discrepancy between the fund’s registered rules and how it operated for more than two decades.
The ruling followed litigation involving former Cadac executive chairman and businessman Simon John Nash, Cadac (Pty) Ltd, and current and former members of the pension fund.
The Cadac Pension Fund, a defined-benefit scheme, has been under curatorship since December 2010.
The dispute dates back to March 2003, when the fund’s trustees resolved to close the scheme to new members and stop member and employer contributions.
The amendment was subsequently approved by the then Financial Services Board under Section 12(4) of the Pension Funds Act.
However, a Section 14 transfer certificate issued in February 2009 allowed 59 people, including Nash, to transfer from the Optimum Umbrella Pension Fund into Cadac.
The trustees later attempted to regularise the position through Amendment No. 4, which sought to retrospectively reopen the fund and alter its structure. The amendment was not registered after regulatory requirements remained outstanding.
Nash subsequently sought payment of his pension benefits, which court records put at about R36 million ($2.2 million).
The curators later informed Cadac and fund members that the scheme had been closed since March 2003 and that contributions received after that date had been unlawfully accepted.
They consequently instructed the fund administrator to stop accepting further contributions and refund those already received.
The decision led to further litigation, with the Supreme Court of Appeal in October 2021 granting interim relief preventing the curators and administrator from refusing contributions or refunding them while the broader dispute was being determined.
The latest proceedings centred on how the discrepancy between the fund’s registered rules and its historical operation should be resolved.
Court records show that the curators had previously identified the mismatch and recommended amendments to “normalise” the fund.
However, Judge MP Motha found that a decision taken by the curators in 2020 was made without giving Nash, Cadac and affected members adequate opportunity to make representations.
The judge therefore set aside the decision and referred the matter back to the curators.
The curators were ordered to consult Cadac, Nash, current and former members and pensioners, explain the proposed amendment and submit amended rules to the pension regulator within 90 days.
They must also provide the regulator with the required information and reports and communicate the regulator’s decision to the applicants and the court.
The ruling does not order the payment of Nash’s approximately R36 million pension claim.
Instead, the court directed the curators to first address the regulatory and procedural issues surrounding the fund before the parties’ competing positions on membership rights and pension benefits can be resolved.
Nash, who has been associated with Cadac for decades, is also linked to Cullinan Holdings and Sable Holdings. His involvement in the Cadac pension dispute has formed part of wider litigation concerning the fund and its administration.
The Cadac Pension Fund has remained under curatorship since 2010, with related proceedings reaching both the High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal. A February 2026 appellate judgment also addressed litigation and curatorship costs arising from the wider dispute.
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