With R4.5 billion worth of unclaimed dividends due to South African investors, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is launching a nationwide initiative aimed at educating potential claimants about investing. This campaign seeks to empower individuals financially, enabling them to claim their rightful benefits.
“Various factors contribute to the unclaimed dividends challenge, ranging from old banking records, deceased shareholders, people changing addresses and not being able to receive correspondence, or moving jobs without enquiring about dividends from employee share schemes,” said Vuyo Lee, Director of Marketing and Corporate Affairs at the JSE. “Through this educational campaign, we aim to shine a light on this issue and educate individuals about what shares are, the available dividends from participating listed companies and how people can verify if they are owed money.”
In addition, the lack of proper identification numbers leads to incomplete records, making it difficult to verify members and beneficiaries, therefore, delaying the distribution of unclaimed benefits. The JSE seeks to resolve this through innovative technology, building a bespoke JSE tracing tool for the purposes of data enrichment preliminary verification and most importantly shareholder segmentation and insights.
“We will collaborate with Baker Street Analytics, which is a cutting-edge data analytics company with a successful track record in tracing lost shareholders. By harnessing the power of advanced data analytics and multiple strategic partnerships, we will make every effort to alleviate the burden of unclaimed dividends in the South African market,” Lee explained.
Ten companies with unclaimed shareholder bases have joined the unclaimed dividends initiative.They are urging former employees, shareholders or beneficiaries of estates that hold shares from these companies to engage with this educational campaign and take the necessary steps to claim their rightful dividends.
“Claiming dividends owed to you is more than just accessing funds; it’s about unlocking your financial potential,” emphasised Lee. “Returning R4.5 billion worth of unclaimed dividends back to South African investors can make a profound economic impact on the everyday lives of people.”
For more information about the educational campaign on unclaimed dividends and how you can participate, visit the JSE website and follow the exchange’s social media accounts on Facebook, X and LinkedIn where educational content will be posted regularly leading up to the launch.
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