Auto-enrolment for workplace pensions has just become law in Ireland, underscoring an international shift toward widening retirement coverage. South Africa faces its own wake-up moment: with millions still exposed to inadequate retirement provision and recent high-profile governance failures, policy change and stronger independence in governance are no longer optional – they are urgent.
Ireland introduced a compulsory auto-enrolment system (MyFutureFund) from 1 January 2026, designed to bring workers into pension saving with a default minimum contribution and a state-supported framework. The Irish move demonstrates what coordinated policy, employer participation and simple construction can achieve to close the retirement-savings gap.
South Africa’s context is different but the problem is the same: too many citizens are under-saved and the institutions meant to protect their retirement assets have in some cases shown alarming fragility. Recent fund-level failures have exposed weaknesses in oversight, conflicts of interest and, in some instances, alleged collusion – all symptoms of governance that lacks robust independence.
Public policy tools such as auto-enrolment could materially broaden coverage here – but only if implemented alongside stronger, enforceable governance standards and independent oversight of the entire fund ecosystem: sponsors, trustees, administrators, auditors and asset managers.
The matter of independence
Independence is the structural control against conflicts of interest. Where sponsors exercise undue influence over trustee appointments and where service providers have commercial links to the same decision-makers, the checks and balances that protect members’ savings break down. Auto-enrolment without parallel governance reform risks increasing the number of savers whose funds are insufficiently protected.
A practical policy brief
1. Consider a phased, sectoral auto-enrolment that starts with large employers and moves to smaller firms once administrative teething issues are resolved.
2. Align auto-enrolment with mandatory minimum governance standards: truly independent trustees, transparent procurement of administrators and independent audit verification.
3. Require simpler member reporting – short, plain-language annual summaries – so members know what they own and can raise queries early.
4. Link any auto-enrolment rollout to a public education campaign on default investment choices and the dangers of conflicts in governance.
“Auto-enrolment is a powerful mechanism to expand retirement coverage, but it cannot succeed in isolation. Unless governance is made truly independent – with trustees, auditors and administrators free of conflicted commercial ties – we risk expanding a failing system. Member protection must be central: policy should widen participation and harden the guardrails that stop mismanagement and fraud,” says Elizabeth Randles, Independent Trustee Services.
With the national budget speech scheduled for 18 February 2026, now is the moment to place auto-enrolment and governance reform on the public agenda. Policymakers should take care that any new default saving architecture is paired with statutory requirements for independence, audit transparency and strengthened enforcement mechanisms.