Question NW1104 to the Minister of Finance
15 December 2016 - NW1104
Lees, Mr RA to ask the Minister of Finance
Whether, with reference to a certain person (name furnished) who retired from the South African National Defence Force on 30 September 2015, the specified person qualifies for a pension from the Government Employees Pension Fund; if not (a) what are the details of the reasons for non-qualification and (b) when was the specified person informed of such non-qualification; if so, (i) has such a pension been authorised, (ii) is the pension being paid to the specified person, (iii) when was the pension first paid to the specified person, (iv) what are the reasons for the delay in paying the pension and (v) when will the outstanding funds be paid?
Reply:
The Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF) has submitted the following:
Yes, in terms of the rules of the Fund, a person who has contributed for more than 10 years qualifies to receive a gratuity (lump sum) and an annuity (monthly pension). The certain person (name furnished) contributed for a period of 42 years.
(a) Not applicable.
(b) Not applicable.
(i) Yes, the pension claim was successfully processed on 28 April 2016.
(ii) Yes.
(iii) The lump sum was paid on 13 May 2016 and the monthly pension (from date of retirement) was paid on 06 May 2016.
(iv) The certain person (name furnished) is divorced and the fund received claim documents from his ex-spouse for her portion of the divorce interest. This had to be finalised first before his pension was paid and the legal department had a backlog which caused a delay in finalising the divorce claim.
(v) There are no outstanding funds. All his pension benefits were paid.
The GEPF would also like to indicate that due to the fact that some of the requested information is personal, it cannot be made available to third party without the written consent of the person involved.
Members of the GEPF could utilise the call centre or walk in centre facilities provided by the GEPF to its members to deal with this type of enquiry.