The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has ramped up efforts to reunite nearly 375,000 former employees, shareholders or beneficiaries of deceased estates with their unclaimed funds.

Its ‘Claim It’ initiative, launched in February 2025, is a collaborative effort between the JSE and some of the largest companies to return unclaimed dividends to their rightful owners.

To achieve this, the JSE currently has access to nineteen issuer share registries from participating companies.

These companies include African Media Entertainment, Finbond Group, Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon, YeboYethu, Advtech, Cashbuild, Super Group, and Naspers.

Mpact, JSE, Reunert, Merafe Resources, Northam Platinum, Growthpoint, Old Mutual, Sasol, and Quilter are also part of the initiative.

Several factors contribute to people not being aware that they have unclaimed dividends owed to them.

These include people changing jobs, moving homes to a new address or updating banking information without notifying listed companies.

This, in turn, has made it challenging to verify beneficiaries, delaying the distribution of unclaimed funds.

The JSE’s Claim It verification process makes it easy for South Africans to determine if they are owed unclaimed dividends.

The exchange encouraged people to visit the JSE website on www.jse.co.za/claimit and complete the online form.

They can also contact the JSE Claim It call centre on 0861 401 105 to determine if they are entitled to unclaimed dividends.

The JSE is currently promoting this initiative on social media and has appointed Lucas Radebe as the campaign’s ambassador.

The JSE’s ‘Claim It’ campaign forms part of a larger initiative to get R88 billion in unclaimed assets into the right hands.

South Africa’s financial regulator is working on a plan to ensure billions of rand in unclaimed retirement, severance and death benefits are distributed.

Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) Commissioner Unathi Kamlana said that R88 billion was owed to South Africans but had not been claimed.

The assets may be unclaimed because of poor information updates and record keeping by funds or administrators, or there may have been changes from employers and intermediaries.

“People are genuinely interested in getting this right because, in a country with an unemployment rate such as ours, anything that provides any kind of alleviation is acceptable,” Kamlana said.

FSCA research shows that the nation’s mining sector, which historically relied heavily on a low-income labour force, accounts for the most significant chunk of unclaimed benefits.

The FSCA aims to make information more readily available and streamline the process for lodging a benefit claim.

One proposal is to establish a central unclaimed assets fund or transfer the money to the National Revenue Fund. The FSCA plans to submit its proposals to the government.

“This is an old problem, but the unclaimed benefits increase each year, which means that not enough is done,” Kamlana said.

For South Africans who want to see whether they are owed money, the FSCA provides a tool for a partial or even complete search.

The tool requires basic information like your name, surname, identification number, fund name, and employer.