Government Employees Pension Law, 1996

Annexure 1 : Government Employees Pension Law, 1996

1. Definitions

Purchase

In this Law, unless the context otherwise indicates—

"annuity"

means an amount which is paid annually;

"approved retirement fund"

means a fund other than a related fund, which has been registered as a pension fund organisation in terms of the Pension Funds Act, 1956 (Act No. 24 of 1956) and which has been approved as a pension fund, retirement annuity fund or provident fund in terms of the Income Tax Act, 1962 (Act No. 58 of 1962);

"Associated Institutions Pension Fund"

means the fund referred to in section 2(1)(b) of the Associated Institutions Pension Fund Act, 1963 (Act No. 41 of 1963);

[Definition inserted by section 11 of the Financial Matters Amendment Act, 2023 (Act No. 9 of 2023), Notice No. 3651 of GG48917, dated 7 July 2023 - effective 14 July 2023 per Commencement Notice No. 3683 of GG48962, dated 14 July 2023]

"beneficiary"

means the dependant or nominee of a member or pensioner, as the case may be;

"benefit"

means an annuity or gratuity, or both an annuity and a gratuity, as the case may be;

"Board"

means the Board of Trustees established by section 6;

"Commission"

means the Public Service Commission established by section 209 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993 (Act No. 200 of 1993);

"dependant"

in relation to a member or a pensioner, means—

(a)	any person in respect of whom the member or pensioner is legally liable for maintenance;

(b)	any person in respect of whom the member or pensioner is not legally liable for maintenance, if such a person—

(i)	was, in the opinion of the Board at the time of the death of the member or pensioner in fact dependent upon such member or pensioner for maintenance;

(ii)	is the spouse of the member or pensioner, including a party to a customary union according to indigenous law and custom, or to a union recognised as a marriage under the tenets of any religion; or

(c)	a posthumous child of the member or pensioner; and

(d)	a person in respect of whom the member or pensioner would have been legally liable for maintenance had that person been a minor;

"dormant member"

means any person declared as a dormant member in terms of section 27, any person who in terms of section 15 of the General Pensions Act, 1979 (Act No. 29 of 1979), was declared a dormant member of the Government Service Pension Fund and who immediately before the fixed date was still such a member, and any person who in terms of any law mentioned in section 14(5) was declared as a dormant member of a previous fund and who immediately before the date determined in terms of section 14(1) in respect of that previous fund, was still such a member;

"employer"

means—

(a)

for purposes of the collection and payment to the Fund of the contributions referred to in section 17(1) and other amounts owing by members to the Fund, the payment to the Fund of the contributions referred to in section 17(2), the administration of membership matters and the payment of benefits to members and their beneficiaries—

(i)	a department or administration referred to in Schedule 1 or 2 of the Public Service Act, 1994 (Proclamation No. 103 of 1994), or a government component referred to in Schedule 3 of that Act, or any other body or institution which employs persons referred to in section 8 of that Act;

(ii)	the Public Service Commission established by section 196 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996;

(iii)

a Provincial Service Commission established by a provincial legislature in terms of section 213 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,1993, (Act No. 200 of 1993), except where the legislation establishing such a commission specifically excludes its members from membership of the Fund;

(iv)	the Auditor-General referred to in sections 181 and 188 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996;

(v)	the Office of the Auditor-General contemplated in the Public Audit Act, 2004 (Act No. 25 of 2004); or

(vi)	any other institution or body, determined by the Board as an employer for the purposes of this Law; and

(b)	for all other purposes of this Law in relation to members in the service of the departments, administrations, government components, bodies and institutions referred to in paragraph (a), the Government;

[Definition substituted by section 1(a) of the Government Employees Pension Law Amendment Act, 2011 (Act No. 19 of 2011)]

"fixed date"

means the date of commencement of this Law;

"former member of a non-statutory force or service"

means—

(a)	any former member of Umkhonto we Sizwe or the Azanian People's Liberation Army—

(i)	who entered into an agreement for appointment with the Department of Defence or the South African Police Service on or before 31 March 2002; and

(ii)	whose name, in the case where a person entered into an agreement for appointment with the Department of Defence, appears in the certified personnel register or personnel list contemplated in section 224(2)(c) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993 (Act No. 200 of 1993);

(b)	any former member of Umkhonto we Sizwe or the Azanian People's Liberation Army or of the former Department of Intelligence and Security of the African National Congress or of the former Pan Africanist Security Services of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania—

(i)	who entered into an agreement for appointment with the National Intelligence Agency or the South African Secret Service between 1 January 1995 and 31 March 2004; and

(ii)	whose name appears on the certified personnel register or personnel list contemplated in section 224(2)(c) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993 (Act No. 200 of 1993), or the personnel list defined in section 1 of the Intelligence Services Act, 2002 (Act No. 65 of 2002);

(c)

any former member of Umkhonto we Sizwe or the Azanian People's Liberation Army or of the former Department of Intelligence and Security of the African National Congress or of the former Pan Africanist Security Services of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania who entered into an agreement for appointment with any component of the employer other than those referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) on or before 31 March 2002;

(d)

notwithstanding section 5, any former member of Umkhonto we Sizwe or the Azanian People's Liberation Army or of the former Department of Intelligence and Security of the African National Congress or of the former Pan Africanist Security Services of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania who was never admitted as a member of the Fund by virtue of the fact that that person concluded a short-term employment contract with the employer; and

(e)

any person contemplated in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) who has been paid the benefits owing to that person by the Fund upon cessation of his or her membership, but who would have been entitled to an additional or greater benefit had his or her service as a member of a non-statutory force or service been taken into account.

[Definition inserted by section 1 of Act No. 35 of 2003]

"Fund"

means the Government Employees Pension Fund referred to in section 2;

"Government"

means the Government of the Republic of South Africa and includes the State;

"gratuity"

means a single amount benefit payable in terms of this Law;

"matters of mutual interest"

means matters of mutual interest contemplated in the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (Act No. 66 of 1995), and specifically excludes non-benefit matters;

"member"

in relation to the Fund, means any person who in terms of section 4 is a member of the Fund, and includes any member who is absent with or without leave of absence or who has been suspended from duty and who immediately before such absence or suspension was contributing to the Fund, and any dormant member;

"Minister"

means the Minister of Finance;

"National Intelligence Agency"

means the Agency established by section 3 of the Intelligence Services Act, 1994 (Act No. 38 of 1994);

"negotiations"

means negotiations between employer and employee organisations in terms of any law or in accordance with processes regarding matters of mutual interest for the purpose of reaching binding agreements in relation to matters of mutual interest;

"pension interest"

in relation to a member of the Fund who is a party to an action for divorce or for the dissolution of a customary marriage, means the benefits to which that member would have been entitled in terms of the rules of the Fund if the member’s membership of the Fund were to be terminated on the date of the divorce or the dissolution of a customary marriage on account of the member’s resignation from the service of the employer;

[Definition inserted by section (1)(b) of the Government Employees Pension Law Amendment Act, 2011 (Act No. 19 of 2011)]

"pensionable service"

in relation to a member, means any period of pensionable service as provided in the rules;

"pensioner"

means any person who is entitled to receive an annuity in terms of this Law;

"prescribe"

means prescribe by rule;

"previous fund"

means a fund mentioned in section 14(5);

"related fund"

means any fund established in terms of any law which provides exclusively for retirement benefits, to which the Government contributes financially;

"rule"

means a rule made in terms of section 29;

"South African National Defence Force"

means the Permanent Force referred to in section 9 of the Defence Act, 1957 (Act No. 44 of 1957);

"South African Police Service"

means the service established by the South African Police Service Act, 1995 (Act No. 68 of 1995);

"South African Secret Service"

means the service established by section 3 of the Intelligence Services Act, 1994 (Act No. 38 of 1994);

"State Security Agency"

means the State Security Agency referred to in section 3 of the Intelligence Services Act, 2002 (Act No. 65 of 2002)

[Definition inserted by section 53 of the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Act, 2013 (Act No. 11 of 2013)];

"Temporary Employees Pension Fund"

means the fund established by section 3 of the Temporary Employees Pension Fund Act, 1979 (Act No. 75 of 1979);

"this Law"

includes the rules;