The Short Version
— R16 billion sits unclaimed in the Guardian's Fund — belonging to orphans, missing heirs, and families who don't know the money exists.
— After 30 years unclaimed, it is forfeited to the state by law. That clock is running on every file in this publication.
— Manuels Tracing Beneficiary holds signed legal mandates to recover these funds. The Master's Office refuses to recognise them.
— 20+ government officials formally notified. Emails ignored. A Deputy Master called to threaten court action.
— The Guardian's Fund's written position: beneficiaries must come in person. No legislation supports this. It is now on record.
Let us begin with what the record shows. Not allegation. Not suspicion. What courts, government departments, investigative journalists, and formal correspondence have placed on the public record — and left there, unresolved, year after year while the people who are owed money wait.
The Guardian's Fund was established by law to protect the most vulnerable people in South Africa — children who have lost parents, minors who cannot manage their own affairs, unborn heirs, people who cannot be found. The fund holds their inheritances, their deceased parents' pensions, the money the law says belongs to them. It is administered by the Master of the High Court. In the Western Cape, that is Zureena Agulhas.
What follows is what this publication can prove — about her office, about what happened to the fund in 2023, about what is happening to active estates right now in April and May 2026, and about the question that every South African who relies on this system is entitled to ask: why does nobody answer for any of it?
The 2023 Theft — Internal. Confirmed. Unresolved.
Confirmed by Department of Justice · June 2023
R17 Million. Gone. Inside Job.
In April 2023, the Department of Justice confirmed that its Guardian's Fund System had been breached and that over R17 million had been taken. The preliminary investigation found the breach was not carried out by outside hackers. It was carried out internally — by certain officials working within the system.
Those officials were placed on precautionary suspension. The Department of Justice has never publicly confirmed what happened to them thereafter. Whether they were dismissed, quietly reinstated, or transferred to another department is not on the public record.
This was the third time in three years that the Guardian's Fund system had been breached. The Information Regulator had already fined the Department of Justice R5 million for failing to renew its anti-virus licences before a previous attack. The department's excuse: procurement took longer than expected.
While the department investigated, over 2,600 beneficiaries could not access their money. A 23-year-old orphan from Pretoria trying to pay her student loan was told to call back next week. A mother trying to access funds for her 12-year-old child's school fees was told the system was offline. Nobody was notified in advance. Nobody was given an alternative. Nobody was told how long it would take.
The officials who stole R17 million from the accounts of South Africa's most vulnerable citizens went on precautionary suspension. Their names were never published. Their outcomes were never confirmed. And the fund they stole from continued to operate — administered by the same department that failed to prevent it three times.
When a beneficiary fails to submit a form on time, their claim lapses. When internal officials steal R17 million, the outcome is never disclosed to the public. That is not a system failure. That is a profound crisis of accountability — and the public is entitled to know why.
"When a beneficiary misses a deadline, their claim lapses. When internal officials steal R17 million, the outcome is never disclosed to the public. That is not a system failure. That is a profound crisis of accountability — and South Africa deserves answers."
— Tamryn Lesley Manuel, The Manuel Exposé · 16 May 2026
The Court Record — 2008 to 2010
The theft in 2023 was not the beginning of this story. The beginning is in the court record — on SAFLII, publicly accessible, reported on Politicsweb — from 2010.
In the matter of Klopper NO v The Green Medicine Company (Pty) Ltd [Case 21080/08, ZAWCHC 22], Judges Thring and Yekiso of the Western Cape High Court delivered a judgment that found the Master of the Western Cape High Court, Zureena Agulhas, had acted unlawfully. This was not the first time the court had ordered her to act. It was the second — because she had not complied with the first.
Verified Court Record · Klopper NO v The Green Medicine Company · Case 21080/08 · ZAWCHC 22 · 19 February 2010 · Judges Thring J & Yekiso J
What two High Court judges found about Zureena Agulhas — on the public record
"We find that the reasons stated by the Master for her decision amount to a misdirection and indicate that she was materially influenced by an error of law, that she took into account irrelevant considerations and that she did not consider relevant considerations. She also seems to have acted arbitrarily, her decision was proportionately unreasonable and the exercise of her discretion was not according to law."
The court further recorded that when the matter came before them in November 2009, they enquired from counsel whether there was anything in the earlier court order — issued against Agulhas in 2008 in case 2475/2008 — which the Master had been unable to understand. They were told there was not. At the court's personal request, Agulhas was physically present in court that day.
She had received a court order in 2008. She understood it. She did not comply with it. A second bench of judges was required to address what the first court had already ordered.
That was 2010. It is 2026. She is still the Master of the Western Cape High Court.
In 2019, GroundUp investigated the Cape Town Master's Office following complaints of a massive backlog. When journalists arrived, Agulhas was unavailable. Her deputy was also absent. A senior state accountant told the journalists he was not authorised to speak to media — while the office had no spokesperson. Emails went unanswered. Her direct line rang out.
In February 2025, the Daily Maverick published an investigation by journalist Rebecca Davis headlined: "Chaos at the Cape Town Master's Office, with life and death consequences." The Cape Town office, the investigation confirmed, carries a 35% vacancy rate on estate controllers. Cases cannot be finalised. Files are lost. People are turned away.
2008. 2010. 2019. 2023. 2025. And now — April 2026. The same office. The same non-responses. Fresh allegations on the record. And Zureena Agulhas still holds her position.
Fresh Allegations — April & May 2026
This is not history. This is now.
In April and May 2026, Manuels Tracing Beneficiary (PTY) LTD — a licensed tracing agent holding valid, legally binding Powers of Attorney — submitted formal correspondence to the Cape Town Master's Office regarding multiple active estates. What followed was the same pattern that two judges condemned in 2010 and journalists documented in 2019 and 2025.
29 Apr 2026
PAJA Notice
Formal PAJA Notice submitted to the Chief Master, the Minister of Justice, and 13+ senior Department of Justice officials simultaneously, regarding multiple estates including MC43/2006 and MC36/2002.
Source: MTB correspondence on formal record
Zero Response
5 May 2026
Statutory Deadline
5-day statutory response window expired. Follow-up sent to Deputy Master Ntsoane and Ms Toti, Cape Town Master's Office, recording that Estate MC43/2006 remains unattended. A lawful representative stands ready. The office chose not to respond. [Name and ID redacted — POPIA compliance]
Source: MTB correspondence — CC: RToti, NNtsoane, MSegoane, MRRamonetha, MasterCapeTown, ZAgulhas
Deadline Violated
8 May 2026
UnclaimedEnquiries
16:30 deadline passed without response regarding OT report. Formal notification issued that reports to the Pension Funds Adjudicator and Information Regulator are being formalised.
Source: MTB correspondence to UnclaimedEnquiries — on record
Escalated to Regulators
11 May 2026
Final Escalation
Correspondence to Deputy Master Ntsoane noting that the 11 May follow-up remains unattended. Formal record lodged with Public Protector evidence pack. Estate MC36/2002 capital figures still withheld. Van Heerden fingerprint matter still unresolved. Executor removal request filed 21 April 2026 — no response. [Client surnames redacted — POPIA compliance]
Source: MTB correspondence · ZAgulhas@justice.gov.za CC'd
Still No Response
18 May 2026
Positive Conduct Noted
Deputy Master N.M Ntsoane (Deceased Appointments Section, Pretoria) received MTB's PAIA correspondence on 18 May 2026 and escalated to National Office, copying Office Manager M. Segoane and asking: "Do we have any alternative official from National Office dealing with PAIA?" Mr Segoane subsequently forwarded the correspondence to D. Seopa and S. Bantjies at 11:35. However — on 19 May 2026, following MTB's formal PAIA non-compliance notice itemising the inadequate responses received, Ms Ntsoane replied: "You have misunderstood me. Please check your e-mails correctly." This response falls entirely outside her designated section (Deceased Appointments — not Guardian's Fund, not PAIA), does not constitute a lawful PAIA response, and does not identify a designated PAIA Information Officer as required under PAIA Section 17. No substantive PAIA response has been received from any official at this office. The Pretoria Master's Office remains in non-compliance. All correspondence is on record.
Source: Gmail record — NNtsoane@justice.gov.za and MSegoane@justice.gov.za — 18 May 2026
Responsive & Correct
16 May 2026
Publication
The Manuel Exposé publishes this record. Zureena Agulhas and the Cape Town Master's Office have been contacted for comment. As of publication, no response has been received. That non-response is noted here.
Source: The Manuel Exposé
Awaiting Response
11 May 2026
Responses Received — None Substantive
Ntsoane Nthabiseng (Deputy Master, Cape Town) replied at 21:56 — five words: "Lets hear from Ms Toti.." — and forwarded the matter to RToti@justice.gov.za. Ms Toti had already been CC'd on the original correspondence. As of 16 May 2026, five days later, Ms Toti has not responded. Venter Hester (Deputy Master, Office of the Chief Master, Pretoria) responded separately: out of office until 8 June 2026, no email access, all matters redirected to Tebogo Tladi. Not one official has provided a single substantive answer to any question placed on record.
Source: Gmail record — NNtsoane@justice.gov.za to tamryn@manuelsgroup.co.za — 11 May 2026, 21:56
Not Substantive
What Happens When You Try to Claim
Here is what the system looks like from the inside — as a licensed tracing agent who holds valid Powers of Attorney and has met every legal requirement.
We submit documentation. It is not acknowledged. We follow up by email. No response. We phone. The phone rings out or we are told the responsible person is unavailable. We are directed to another person. That person is also unavailable. We email again. Nothing.
When beneficiaries go themselves — without representation — they are frequently told their file does not exist. When they return with documentation, they are told to come back later. When they come back, the person they need is gone. They receive no written responses. They receive no reasons. They receive no timelines.
And while they wait, the clock runs. Interest on money held by the Guardian's Fund stops accumulating after five years from the date it becomes claimable. After thirty years, unclaimed funds are forfeited to the state. The system does not need to steal from beneficiaries. It simply needs to delay long enough.
R16 billion sits in the Guardian's Fund. The Administration of Estates Act does not require the fund to actively trace the people that money belongs to. Private pension fund custodians are required by law to trace beneficiaries. The Guardian's Fund is not. The question of why that legislative distinction exists — and who benefits from it — belongs on this record.
"The system does not need to steal from beneficiaries. Section 91 of the Administration of Estates Act does that automatically — after thirty years of delay. Whether born of severe institutional incompetence or deliberate obstruction, the real-world consequence is exactly the same: the thirty-year timer continues uninterrupted toward forfeiture."
— Tamryn Lesley Manuel, The Manuel Exposé · 16 May 2026
The April 2026 Record — Every Address. Not One Word Back.
On 29 April 2026, Manuels Tracing Beneficiary submitted a formal PAJA and PAIA escalation notice. It was addressed to the Chief Master of the High Court, the Minister of Justice, the COO of Justice, the Master Pretoria, and the Public Protector — at multiple addresses. It was copied to thirteen named officials of the Department of Justice — including Zureena Agulhas herself, directly, at ZAgulhas@justice.gov.za. More than 20 government recipients in total received that correspondence.
The named CC recipients were: Ndhlovu Ntsako, Venter Hester, Ntsoane Nthabiseng, Ramonetha Rufus, Segoane Moshe, Toti Ruth, Mathibe Kanyane, Agulhas Zureena, Adriaan Jemillo, Mohapi Buti, Mahadave Prabashni, Vanessa Mathiba, and Lallie Vuyani.
Not one of them responded. Not an acknowledgement. Not an auto-reply. Not a referral. Nothing.
But it gets worse. When MTB attempted to lodge the same complaint with the Public Protector on 29 April 2026, both official complaints addresses — complaints@publicprotector.org and complaints@pprotect.org — returned delivery failure notices. The Public Protector's own complaints system did not work. Screenshots of the bounces are retained on file. MTB was forced to resend to all available alternative addresses and request backdating to 29 April. On 19 May 2026, the Public Protector responded — the complaint has been formally registered under Case Number [case number withheld] and an investigator has been allocated. The backdating to the original submission date is on record. The Public Protector is now investigating.
On The Record · April–May 2026
"Just a Tracer." That Is What They Called a Legally Appointed Agent.
The formal PAJA notice documents that the Cape Town Master's Office refused to engage with MTB as the duly authorised representative of its clients — dismissing MTB as "just a tracer" and disregarding signed, witnessed Limited Powers of Attorney and Irrevocable Funds Instructions.
Section 93 of the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965 expressly recognises agents acting on behalf of claimants. The Cape Town office's refusal has no statutory basis. It is ultra vires. The formal notice states this explicitly and reserves the right to bring a PAJA review application in the High Court if the conduct is not corrected.
The fingerprinting requirement — mandatory cross-provincial physical attendance — was also formally challenged. It has no basis in the Administration of Estates Act, the Guardian's Fund regulations, or any other legislation. It is an invented internal barrier. It is not law. And it is being used to prevent beneficiaries from accessing what the law says is theirs.
1,472 identified beneficiaries are affected by the GEPF Western Cape PAIA request alone. 1,535 Western Cape government employees have unclaimed pension entitlements on record. The 30-day PAIA response window lapsed without a single word.
Live Evidence Tracker
All items documented — correspondence held on formal record by Manuels Tracing Beneficiary (PTY) LTD
R17 million — stolen from Guardian's Fund by internal officialsConfirmed 2023
Officials responsible — suspended — final outcome never disclosed publiclyOutcome Hidden
Court order 2008 — Case 2475/2008 — not complied with by AgulhasFlouted
Judicial finding 2010 — arbitrary, unlawful, error of law — Case 21080/08Still in post
GroundUp 2019 — Agulhas unavailable, emails unanswered, phone unansweredNo accountability
Daily Maverick Feb 2025 — "life and death consequences" — 35% vacancy rateStill in post
25 Apr 2026 — PAIA request to GEPF Western Cape — 1,535 WCP Govt employees — 1,472 beneficiaries affectedDeemed refused
29 Apr 2026 — Full PAJA Notice: Chief Master, Minister of Justice, COO, Public Protector + 13 named officials CC'd including Agulhas directlyZero response
30 Apr 2026 — Resent to Public Protector all available addresses — backdating requested. 19 May 2026 — Public Protector responded via Jabu Zondo (Admin Assistant). Complaint registered under Case Number [case number withheld]. Investigator allocated. Backdating to original submission date confirmed on record.Registered — Active
Fingerprinting requirement imposed — no legislative basis — ultra viresUnlawful Conduct
MTB dismissed as "just a tracer" — Section 93 AEA expressly recognises agentsUnlawful Conduct
Estate MC36/2002 — stagnant since 2002 — capital figures withheld — forensic audit blockedClock Running
Estate MC43/2006 — stagnant 24 years — 6 years from 30-year forfeiture thresholdClock Running
Pension Funds Adjudicator — formally notifiedEscalated
Information Regulator — formally notified — Reg: 2026-004481Escalated
Section 91 — Administration of Estates Act — 30-year forfeiture to state — the legal motive for delayThe Motive
11 May 2026, 21:56 — Ntsoane Nthabiseng (Deputy Master, Cape Town) — replied "Lets hear from Ms Toti.." and forwarded to RToti@justice.gov.za. Toti Ruth was already CC'd on the original. Five days later — no response from Ms Toti. No substantive engagement from any official.Deflected
19 May 2026 — PAIA request submitted to Master of the High Court Pretoria re: CONSANI ENGINEERING (PTY) LTD — GF88/2012 — 19 beneficiaries. Response from Segoane Moshe (Office Manager, Pretoria): unreadable attachment, empty email body. Response from Ntsoane Nthabiseng (Deputy Master, Deceased Appointments Section): "You have misunderstood me. Please check your e-mails correctly." — a response that falls entirely outside her designated section and does not constitute a PAIA response. Response from Adams Samantha (Prosecutor): confirmed she is not the correct recipient and has no involvement. No designated PAIA Information Officer has been identified by this office despite a statutory obligation under PAIA Section 17 to do so. All correspondence documented.No Information Officer
19 May 2026, 14:54 — Deputy Master N.M Ntsoane (Deceased Appointments Section, Pretoria Master's Office) — called Tamryn Lesley Manuel directly on +27 12 339 3324 (Pretoria landline). During this unsolicited call, Ms Ntsoane verbally stated that she will not respond to MTB's files because MTB has "no right" to request funds on clients' behalf — and warned that MTB must "become legal ready" because they are "going to see flames in court." This call was made at 14:54. At 15:00 — six minutes later — Ms Ntsoane forwarded the same MTB correspondence to Adv Daniel Seopa (DSeopa@justice.gov.za) with the instruction "kindly receive the e-mail below and assist." Ms Ntsoane is the Deputy Master of the Deceased Appointments Section — not the Guardian's Fund section, not the designated PAIA Information Officer. She has no jurisdiction over PAIA requests of this nature. MTB holds valid, signed Letters of Power of Attorney from every client on whose behalf it acts. MTB Director Tamryn Lesley Manuel holds RE5 accreditation (FAIS), NQF4 Financial Services qualifications, and is a registered Information Officer (Reg: 2026-004481). The legal basis for MTB's mandate is established under the Pension Funds Act, PAIA, and common law agency. This verbal threat by a government official to a registered Information Officer conducting lawful PAIA activity is formally documented. It has been noted for submission to the Public Protector ([case number withheld]) and the Information Regulator (Reg: 2026-004481).Verbal Threat — On Record
19 May 2026, 15:00–15:28 — THREE REFERRALS IN 28 MINUTES — Following the formal J211 request for Estate MC36/2002 (Ndlovu, Mkateko Sharltine), Deputy Master N.M Ntsoane forwarded MTB's correspondence three times in 28 minutes without a single substantive response: 15:00 — forwarded to Adv Daniel Seopa ("kindly assist"); 15:08 — forwarded to Mr Muthanti ("relevant contact for copies" — incorrect, J211 is not a file copy); 15:28 — forwarded to Ms Ruth Toti ("kindly respond") — the same Ms Toti who has been copied on MTB correspondence since 11 May 2026 and has not responded once. The J211 request has been on formal record since 24 April 2026 — 25 days. The PAIA Section 25 30-day statutory deadline has lapsed. This pattern of internal forwarding — bouncing a lawful request between officials who are either out of their section, wrong for the request, or have a documented history of non-response — is being submitted to the Public Protector under [case number withheld] as evidence of deliberate obstruction.3 Referrals · 28 Minutes · 0 Responses
19 May 2026, 16:15 — FIRST WRITTEN SUBSTANTIVE RESPONSE — Ms N. Toti (RToti@justice.gov.za) — copied on correspondence since 11 May 2026 without replying — finally responded in writing. Her stated position: (1) this is a Cape Town matter not Pretoria — despite being referred to her by Pretoria officials through a documented four-step referral chain; (2) "the requested information can only be given to the beneficiaries themselves and not to anyone" — no basis in the Administration of Estates Act, PAIA, FSR Act, or common law agency; (3) "the mandate that you have between yourself and the beneficiaries does not apply to the Guardian's Fund" — asserted without citing any legislation; (4) MTB must "refer the beneficiaries to the relevant offices or to the nearest offices of the Master." This is the written, official position of the Guardian's Fund: that a beneficiary who does not live in Cape Town must personally travel there to access funds held in her name. It is now confirmed in writing. No legislation supports it. It is the system, on record, speaking for itself.Written Refusal — No Legal Basis
19 May 2026 — Corporate PAIA Outreach Database (The Embassy — MTB Internal System): 550 funds tracked — 5,807 total beneficiaries identified across all 9 provinces. Every submitted file is showing Final Notice Overdue Day 30. Cape Town fund administrators completely unresponsive — zero replies, zero acknowledgements. Single funds holding up to 86 beneficiaries each. All formal PAIA requests submitted by a registered Information Officer (Reg: 2026-004481). All ignored.5,807 Beneficiaries — No Response
19 May 2026 — Public Protector South Africa — formal complaint re: maladministration and systemic obstruction by Master's Office Cape Town — REGISTERED. Case Number: [case number withheld]. Investigator allocated. This complaint is now under active investigation by the Public Protector.[case number withheld]
The Questions This Publication Is Placing On The Record
?After two court orders and a judicial finding that her decisions were arbitrary and unlawful — what accountability mechanism exists for the Master of the Western Cape High Court?
?After R17 million was stolen from the Guardian's Fund by internal officials in 2023 — what happened to those officials? Were they dismissed, reinstated, or transferred?
?This was the third breach in three years. Who in the Department of Justice is personally accountable for the repeated failure to secure beneficiary funds?
?Why does the Administration of Estates Act not require the Guardian's Fund to actively trace beneficiaries — when private pension fund custodians are legally required to do so?
?Why do licensed tracers holding valid Powers of Attorney get refused access to information that the beneficiaries themselves are legally entitled to receive?
?When a client is told their file does not exist — and the file is subsequently found — what remedy does the state provide for the harm caused by that denial?
?Who benefits from R16 billion sitting unclaimed in the Guardian's Fund — earning interest that stops after five years and is forfeited to the state after thirty?
?Is the documented pattern of non-response, mandate refusal, file denial, and escalation blocking functioning as a mechanism by which Section 91 forfeiture is accelerated? And if so, who is accountable for it?
?Why does the Department of Justice continue to retain officials in positions of public trust when their conduct has been found unlawful by the courts — and when fresh allegations are still being filed against their offices in 2026?
Opinion · Why Is She Still There?
Opinion · Tamryn Lesley Manuel · 20 May 2026
The system is not broken. A broken system tries and fails. This system does not try.
I am a tracing agent. My company holds valid Powers of Attorney. We follow every procedural requirement. We submit legally compliant documentation. And we are refused — not because our documents are defective, but because the Cape Town Master's Office will not respond. Not to tracers. Not to attorneys. Not to journalists. Not, apparently, to judges — unless physically summoned to court.
I am also a registered Information Officer — Registration Number 2026-004481 — with a statutory mandate to process PAIA requests and handle information access on behalf of my organisation and the beneficiaries it serves. I understand what it means to hold that designation. It carries obligations. It carries accountability. And it requires a counterpart — an identified Information Officer on the other side of the correspondence — someone who is legally required to receive, process, and respond to formal requests. To this day, I have not been able to identify a single official at the Master's Office — Cape Town or Pretoria — who will confirm themselves as the designated PAIA Information Officer for that office. I have been sent from Segoane to Ntsoane to Seopa to Bantjies to a prosecutor who had nothing to do with the matter. Pillar to post. Department to department. Section to section. And still — no Information Officer.
I made a pledge when I founded Manuels Tracing Beneficiary. I pledged to find the heirs. To trace the people the system has forgotten — children who were minors when money was lodged in their names, families who lost a loved one and never knew funds were being held on their behalf, beneficiaries who have been waiting since 2002 for a process that should have taken months. That pledge does not have an expiry date. But the funds do — Section 91 sees to that. Every day I cannot get a response, every email that bounces into silence, every official who tells me to "check my emails correctly" — that is a day subtracted from the time a beneficiary has left to claim what is rightfully theirs. I am not going to stop. But I am going to document every obstruction until the system has nowhere left to hide.
For a long time I called this maladministration. Incompetence. Systemic dysfunction. But incompetence does not explain a pattern this consistent across this many cases over this many years. What I am documenting — and what every case file in this publication reflects — is a system whose outcomes consistently disadvantage beneficiaries and advantage the state. Whether that is by design or by neglect, the law itself makes the consequence inevitable.
Section 91 of the Administration of Estates Act is the motive. It states that after thirty years from the date money in the Guardian's Fund becomes claimable — if it has not been claimed — it is forfeited to the state. Not returned to the family. Not held indefinitely. Forfeited. Gone.
Read that against what this publication has documented in every single case on record. Estate MC43/2006 — stagnant since 2002. That is 24 years. Estate MC36/2002 — capital figures withheld, forensic audit blocked. Files that cannot be finalised because the office will not respond to the representative standing ready to close them. Estates where clients go to the office and are told their file does not exist — only for it to be found when pressure is applied. Delays. Non-responses. Gatekeeping. [Client names redacted — POPIA compliance]
Every year that passes without a claim being processed moves that estate closer to the 30-year threshold. Whether driven by chronic institutional paralysis or systemic indifference, the real-world consequence remains identical: every unanswered email and ignored file serves as a functional mechanism that keeps the 30-year threshold moving forward.
The gatekeeping is the point. Refusing to recognise a tracer's mandate keeps the file open and the clock running. Withholding capital figures blocks the forensic audit that would prove what is owed. Telling a beneficiary their file does not exist ensures they leave without a claim lodged. And when that beneficiary gives up — as the system relies on them doing — the thirty-year timer continues uninterrupted toward forfeiture.
This is what ultra vires maladministration looks like when it is systematic and documented. It is not one official making one mistake. It is a pattern — confirmed by two court judgments, a R17 million internal theft, a national media investigation, thirteen formally notified officials, and every non-response in this publication's evidence tracker. The pattern has a beneficiary: the state. The victims are the heirs.
Zureena Agulhas has held her position through two court orders, a judicial finding of arbitrary and unlawful conduct, a R17 million internal theft by her own officials, a national media investigation calling her office a chaos with life and death consequences, and years of formally documented non-response. She remains because the Department of Justice has chosen to retain her. That is not administrative failure. That is a policy choice. And R16 billion sits in that fund while the clock runs.
On 19 May 2026 — the day before this publication went live — Deputy Master N.M Ntsoane of the Pretoria Master's Office called me directly. Unsolicited. She told me I have no right to request funds on clients' behalf. She told me to "become legal ready" because I am "going to see flames in court." Six minutes after that call she forwarded my correspondence to a colleague with the instruction to "kindly assist." I want to be precise about what happened in that moment: a government official in the Deceased Appointments Section — not the Guardian's Fund section, not the designated PAIA Information Officer, not anyone with jurisdiction over my requests — called a registered Information Officer conducting lawful PAIA activity and threatened her with court. My RE5 accreditation is valid. My LPOA documents are signed. My Information Officer registration is 2026-004481. My clients' funds are real. And that call is now part of the public record.
The public is tired. Tired people eventually stop asking and start publishing. This is that publication. And the thirty-year clock is now part of the public record too.
And it does not stop at the Guardian's Fund. Manuels Tracing Beneficiary maintains a corporate PAIA outreach database — 550 private funds, pension funds, provident funds, companies in liquidation, and medical schemes — holding a combined 5,807 identified beneficiaries across all nine provinces. Formal PAIA requests have been submitted to every single one of those funds. As of today, every file in that database marked as sent is showing Final Notice Overdue — Day 30. Every one. The Cape Town office is completely unresponsive — not a single reply, not an acknowledgement, not a referral. Look at those numbers: one fund alone can hold 86 beneficiaries. Another holds 81. Another 66. Another 65. Each of those is a human being — someone's parent, someone's child, someone who worked for decades and left something behind — waiting in silence while the administrators of their funds ignore a lawful PAIA request from a registered Information Officer whose sole purpose is to find them and return what is theirs. The silence is not administrative. The silence is a choice.
Tamryn Lesley Manuel — Founder, The Manuel Exposé · Director, Manuels Tracing Beneficiary (PTY) LTD
Has the system failed you too?
If you are a beneficiary, attorney, or tracing agent who has been met with non-response, obstruction, or misconduct from the Guardian's Fund or the Cape Town Master's Office — your documented account belongs on this record.
Submit Your Story
Transparency notice: The founder of this publication, Tamryn Lesley Manuel, is also the Director of Manuels Tracing Beneficiary (PTY) LTD — a licensed tracing agent with active files at the Cape Town Master's Office. This publication has a direct interest in the matters it documents. That interest is disclosed openly. All facts cited are independently verifiable from public sources.
Sources: All facts cited are drawn from verifiable public sources — published court judgments on SAFLII (Klopper NO v Green Medicine Company, Case 21080/08, ZAWCHC 22, 19 Feb 2010), investigative journalism by GroundUp (Sep 2019, Jun 2023), the Daily Maverick (Feb 2025, Rebecca Davis), News24 (Jun 2023), official statements by the Department of Justice confirming the R17 million theft (Jun 2023), and formal correspondence held on record by Manuels Tracing Beneficiary (PTY) LTD.
Right of Reply: Formal media queries were sent to all named parties on 16 May 2026, granting a 48-hour window for response. As of publication date (20 May 2026), no substantive response has been received from any named official, including Zureena Agulhas (Master, Cape Town) and Ntsoane Nthabiseng (Deputy Master, Cape Town). No designated PAIA Information Officer has been identified by the Pretoria Master's Office despite a statutory obligation to do so under PAIA Section 17. A formal complaint is now registered with the Public Protector of South Africa under [case number withheld] and an investigator has been allocated. This publication welcomes right of reply from any named party and will publish responses in full and without edit.
This publication is produced in the public interest under Section 16 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. Nothing published herein constitutes legal advice.