The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) has announced that applications for the 2026/2027 two-pot savings withdrawals are now open
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The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) has announced that applications for the 2026/2027 two-pot savings withdrawals are now open again.
The applications opened on 2 March 2026.
This comes after a brief closure at the end of February 2026, which allowed the fund to process all 2025/2026 tax-year withdrawal applications. According to the fund, members can also submit applications through the GEPF Self-Service App, but the fund warns that only one withdrawal is permitted per tax year.
"This measure also helps prevent a situation where an application submitted before the end of the 2025/2026 tax year is only processed in the 2026/2027 tax year. If this were to happen, the withdrawal could be treated as the member’s 2026/2027 tax-year withdrawal, which may unintentionally make the member ineligible to submit another savings withdrawal during 2026/2027," the fund said.
The two-pot system is a retirement savings structure that allows members to access a portion of their savings without cashing out their entire pension. It was introduced in September 2024 under the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill, giving members more flexibility to manage short-term financial pressures while still preserving the bulk of their retirement funds.
IOL previously reported that the South African Revenue Service (SARS) said it has received applications amounting to R4.1 billion in the two-pot retirement system in 2024.
“This includes the directives which have been cancelled. 159 853 relates to Savings Withdrawal Benefits, which is 98.9% of the total number of applications received from Sunday 1 to 10 September, 2024, which means Sars received an average of 17 964 tax directive applications a day,” the revenue service said.
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