There is N$93 million of unclaimed funds in the Guardian's Fund, which is supervised by the Master of the High Court. The Executive Director of the Ministry of Justice, Gladice Pickering, described the amount as shocking.

The total value of the account stands at N$2.3 billion. There is a law that requires the Ministry of Justice to publish a list of beneficiaries whose monies remain unclaimed from the Guardian's Fund.

Gladice Pickering admits neglect on the part of the ministry, adding that should funds not be claimed within 30 years, such funds are paid over to the state.

"So that is something that we have been neglecting, and it is something that we intend to do, it states. The Act is very specific, saying that every September, September is already here and it is passing fast, so we will be publishing that list even ahead of September 2024."

The realisation that potential vulnerable members of society could be on that list is saddening to Pickering.

And legal practitioner Doris Hans-Kaumbi is equally shocked by the sum of unclaimed funds.

"This N$93 million is possible; it's a big sum, which means that there are people out there that do not know that their parents left them money at the Guardians Fund and that you can go and claim it."

She continued that the legal provision that allows the justice ministry to only publish the list of beneficiaries once per year is not enough and that more should be done to reach a wider audience.