CHAPTER 16:06

STATE SERVICE (PENSIONS) ACT

Acts 30/1971, 73/1971, 11/1973 (s. 16), 4/1974 (s. 28), 24/1975 (s. 8), 42/1977 (s. 8), 24/1987 (s. 13); S.I.s 566/1979, 849/1980, 655/1983, 41/1984, 257/1985, 286/1986, 39/1987, 179/1993, 6/2000 (s.151), 6/2005 (s. 34)

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

Section

1. Short title.
3. Application of Act.
4. Pensions and other benefits to be prescribed.
5. Pensionable service and arrear contributions.
6. Transfer or secondment of contributors.
7. Date pension becomes payable.
8. Commutation of pension of former contributor.
9. Temporary commutation of pension of former non-contributor.
10. Proof of age, marriage and date of death.
11. Payment of pensions in respect of step-children.
12. Pensions and other benefits not to be pledged or ceded, etc.
13. Insolvency of pensioner.
14. Suspension of pension.
15. Suspension, reduction or forfeiture of pension or gratuity.
16. Deduction from pension, gratuity, refund of contributions or other benefit.
17. Regulatory powers.
18. Make-up of benefits.
19. Benefits to be paid from Consolidated Revenue Fund.

SCHEDULE

Repealed Legislation.

AN ACT to provide for the payment of pensions, gratuities and other benefits to or in respect of persons employed by the State on retirement, discharge, resignation, death or other termination of service; and to provide for other matters connected with or incidental to the foregoing.

[Date of commencement: 1st July, 1971.]

1    Short title

This Act may be cited as the State Service (Pensions) Act [Chapter 16:06].

                       2    Interpretation

(1) In this Act—

“child” means an unmarried son or daughter under the age of eighteen years, and includes—

• a posthumous child, a stepchild, and a child legally adopted; and
• subject to subsection (2), an illegitimate child;

“contribute” means pay contributions to the Consolidated Revenue Fund in terms of this Act;

“contributions” means the amounts contributed by a contributor to the Consolidated Revenue Fund in terms of this Act or any other law and includes any amounts paid by a contributor—

• in respect of a period of service which is recognized in terms of subsection (3) of section five or was recognized under the corresponding provision of the former pensions law as being continuous; or
• as arrear contributions in respect of service with the State; but does not include any interest paid in respect of the amounts referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b); “contributor” means a person who is contributing;

“fixed date” means the 1st July, 1971;

“former pensions law”, in relation to a member referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section three, means the law relating to pensions which was applicable to him immediately before the fixed date; “interest” means interest compounded annually;

“medical board” means a board of two or more medical practitioners registered in terms of the Health Professions Act [Chapter 27:19] appointed by the Minister for the purposes of this Act;

[Definition amended by section 151 of Act 6 of 2002]

“member” means a person who is employed full-time in a uniformed force;

“Minister” means the Minister of Finance or any other Minister to whom the President may, from time to time, assign the administration of this Act;

“non-contributor” means a member who is not a contributor;

“pensioner” means a person who is in receipt of a pension in terms of this Act and was a member immediately before he became entitled to that pension;

“uniformed force” means—

• the Regular Force of the Police Force; or
• the Regular Force of the Army, the Air Force or the Guard Force; or (c) the Prison Service.

(2) The Public Service Commission, the Police Service Commission, the Prison Service Commission or the

Defence Forces Service Commission, as the case may be, may from time to time determine—

• the conditions subject to which it will recognize any unmarried person under the age of eighteen years as the illegitimate child of a member or pensioner; and
• the circumstances in which and the conditions subject to which any benefit may be paid in terms of this Act or any applicable regulations to or in respect of a person recognized by the Commission concerned as the illegitimate child of a member or pensioner;

and may at any time amend or revoke any such determination.

                       3    Application of Act

(1) The provisions of this Act shall apply to all persons who—

• on the fixed date are employed by the State in a uniformed force, including any such persons who are, at the fixed date, on secondment to an approved service; or
• are appointed after the fixed date to employment in a uniformed force.

(2) For the avoidance of doubt, it is declared that, if provision is made in pursuance of subsection (5) of section 48 of the Constitution applying, with such modifications as are deemed necessary or expedient, all or any of the provisions of this Act to persons appointed to the staff of Parliament, effect shall be given to those provisions as applied as if those persons were members.

                       4     Pensions and other benefits to be prescribed

The Minister shall prescribe the pensions, gratuities or other benefits which shall be payable to members on their retirement, discharge, resignation or other termination of office and to the widows, children or dependants of such members or former members, or to their estates, on their death whilst in the employment of the State or after the termination thereof whilst in receipt of a pension:

Provided that in prescribing such benefits the Minister may—

• provide that no pension, gratuity or other benefit shall be payable to or in respect of a member until he has completed a specified period of service with the State;
• provide that a pension shall be payable to a member with effect from the date he attains a prescribed age, whether or not his service with the State is thereupon terminated; (c) make no provision in respect of particular classes of members.

                       5     Pensionable service and arrear contributions

• Subject to this Act, the pensionable service or pensionable employment with respect to which any pension or other benefit is to be calculated shall be as prescribed.
• Regulations made in terms of section seventeen—
• shall prescribe that pensionable service includes any period in respect of which contributions have been paid; and
• may prescribe that, subject to the payment of contributions or arrear contributions, pensionable service includes—
  • time spent on attachment or secondment to any other service;
  • any period spent undergoing national service or training for an approved qualification;
  • any previous service with the State before he became a contributor, whether such previous service is continuous with his service as a contributor or has been interrupted;
  • any period of service or employment otherwise than in the service of the State;
  • any military service which—
    1. was recognized under the former pensions law as pensionable service in respect of the member concerned; or
    2. could have been recognized under the former pensions law which was applicable or which would have been applicable to that member had he been a member immediately be-

fore the fixed date and which the Minister declares shall be regarded as pensionable service in respect of the member concerned:

Provided that such regulations may provide that military service referred to in subparagraph (v) or any service with the State prior to the fixed date may be included as pensionable service without any contributions having been paid in respect thereof but any such service shall not be taken into account for the purpose of calculating qualifying service for a refund of contributions.

• Any amount which a contributor has elected to pay as arrear contributions in respect of any period of service or employment which is to be regarded as pensionable service shall, unless paid in full within one month from the date the election was made, be paid in such manner as may be determined by the Minister.
• In the event of the death, discharge, resignation or retirement of a contributor who has made an election referred to in subsection (3) before the amount payable by him in terms of that subsection has been paid, the balance of the amount so payable shall be set off against any pension, gratuity, refund of contributions or other benefit due to or in respect of the contributor under this Act or against any other moneys due to him by the State.
• For the purposes of subsection (4), the Minister may direct that a sufficient portion of the pension due to or in respect of the contributor may be commuted in accordance with the provisions of subsection (8), as read with subsection (1), of section eight, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act.
• The period of pensionable service or pensionable employment shall be calculated by the month and any fraction of a month shall be disregarded.
• In the case of a member who is employed full-time in a uniformed force, if any previous service included in his pensionable service was service otherwise than in a uniformed force— (a) for the purpose of calculating—
  • any pension or other benefit which is payable to or in respect of the widow or any child of such person; or
  • any pension which is payable to such person on his discharge on the grounds of ill-health; the whole of such previous service shall be reckoned as pensionable service;

(b) for the purpose of calculating any pension which is payable to such person, other than a pension referred to in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a), only five-sixths of such service shall be reckoned as pensionable service.