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Willem Fourie

Willem Fourie is a South African personal finance and retirement writer with extensive experience covering retirement legislation, personal finance and employee benefits. He began his career as a compliance officer at a Johannesburg-based employee benefits consultancy, where he worked closely with retirement fund members and helped explain the rules and requirements affecting their retirement savings. After seven years in compliance, he moved into financial journalism, covering South African retirement reform, taxation and personal finance for business and financial publications. His work has included following developments in South Africa's retirement reform programme, changes to retirement-fund preservation rules and the introduction of the Two-Pot Retirement System. He has also spoken with professionals working in retirement funds, financial planning, actuarial services and taxation to better understand how changes to retirement legislation affect ordinary fund members. Willem followed the development of the Two-Pot Retirement System from its introduction and continued to research the practical questions that fund members faced when the system came into effect on 1 September 2024. This experience led to the creation of TwoPotGuide.co.za, an independent information website focused on explaining the Two-Pot System and related retirement and employment topics in straightforward language. Willem holds a BCom in Financial Management from Stellenbosch University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning from the University of the Free State. He is not a registered financial adviser, and TwoPotGuide.co.za does not provide personalised financial advice. The website's content is intended for general information and educational purposes. Readers should consult their retirement fund, financial adviser, tax practitioner or other appropriately qualified professional when making decisions about their individual circumstances. Willem is based in Cape Town and can be contacted through the website's Contact page. He welcomes questions and feedback about the information published on TwoPotGuide.co.za.

GEPF Two Pot Payments

GEPF Two Pot Payments

The GEPF paid out R10.6 billion in two pot savings withdrawals in the first few months after the system launched. The average payment was approximately R27,500, well above the industry average for private sector funds. If you are a government…

GEPF Two-Pot Withdrawal Delays

GEPF Two-Pot Withdrawal Delays

If you are a government employee waiting on a GEPF two-pot withdrawal, you already know the frustration. While members of private sector pension funds were receiving payments within five to seven business days of the system launching on 1 September…

NMG Two Pot System

NMG Two Pot System

By the time March 2026 arrived, NMG Benefits had processed more than 113,000 savings pot withdrawal applications since the two pot system launched. In the first two weeks of the new tax year alone, another 13,555 came in. If your…

How to Access the Two Pot System

How to Access the Two Pot System

Most South Africans know the two pot system exists. Far fewer know exactly what they need to do to actually get money out of it. Since the system launched on 1 September 2024, the most common problems have not been…

How Long Does Two Pot Take to Pay Out?

How Long Does Two Pot Take to Pay Out

Some South Africans submitted their savings pot claims in September 2024 and had money in their accounts within five business days. Others waited six weeks and were still chasing their fund administrators for updates. The difference was not luck. It…

How Does the Two Pot System Work?

How Does the Two Pot System Work?

Before 1 September 2024, if you needed money urgently and your only real asset was your retirement fund, your options were grim. You could resign from your job to access your savings, or borrow against your fund if your employer…

How to Claim Two Pot Savings

How to Claim Two Pot Savings

By the end of the first six months after the two-pot system launched on 1 September 2024, South African fund members had submitted hundreds of thousands of savings pot claims. Many went smoothly. Many did not. The ones that hit…

How to Withdraw from Two Pot System

How to Withdraw from Two Pot System

Since 1 September 2024, more than a million South Africans have submitted withdrawal claims against their savings pot. Some received their money within days. Others hit administrative walls, unexpected tax bills, and outright confusion about what they were even entitled…

Two-Pot System Application Form

Two-Pot System Application Form

There is no single universal two-pot system application form that works across all retirement funds in South Africa. That is the first thing to understand, because many members spend time searching for a SARS or National Treasury form that does…

Two-Pot System 2024 Withdrawal

Two-Pot System 2024 Withdrawal

By September 2024, South African fund members had submitted over 1.2 million withdrawal claims in the first few weeks alone, according to reports from major fund administrators. That rush to access cash told a clear story: millions of people knew…