The Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration and the Standing Committee on Finance on Tuesday agreed on a way forward for the long-running SATBVC pension redress matter.
During a joint meeting, the committees were briefed by the Joint Task Team (JTT), which investigated the grievances of former public servants associated with South Africa and the former Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei (SATBVC) administrations.
The Government Service Pension Fund, which was established in 1973, was the precursor to the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). The various states and homelands had their own separate pension fund arrangements, which were then amalgamated after 1994 into the GEPF. However, many beneficiaries were unhappy and believed that their periods of service had not been correctly taken into account. Among their grievances were unresolved claims concerning leave gratuities and severance benefits.
Through verification efforts, the JTT found that many historical pension records could be reconciled and that many beneficiaries had already received benefits. The JTT also identified matters that cannot be resolved through technical verification alone. These include cases where historical records are incomplete and concerns about previous redress cut-off dates. Among the recommendations in the report is for Parliament to establish a high-level policy forum to address matters falling outside the administrative and technical remit of the JTT. The JTT also recommends that a Special Redress Verification Panel be established under the new policy forum, among other things.
The committees resolved to refer the JTT’s recommendations to the Parliamentary Legal Services office to determine the appropriate legal and parliamentary mechanism to guide them on the way forward.
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Mr Jan de Villiers, said Legal Services should advise on how the JTT’s recommendations should be formulated – either as a resolution, a committee report or another appropriate parliamentary mechanism – so that the two committees can formally consider and adopt them.
“This will allow us to ensure that the matter is returned to the National Assembly as expeditiously as possible and in the correct legal and procedural form,” he said. The Chairperson stressed that this step should facilitate a conclusion rather than restart the process.
The committees further resolved to convene a high-level political engagement involving the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Public Service and Administration, the GEPF, the Government Pensions Administration Agency and other relevant institutions. The Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Finance, Dr Joe Maswanganyi, said the fundamental issues can be discussed at this engagement, and it must determine what decisions can be taken so that the matter does not continue indefinitely.
Dr Maswanganyi further cautioned against creating yet another structure where existing state institutions may already have the authority to implement the recommendations. “We should try to avoid establishing another structure where the existing institutions of the state already have the necessary legislative and executive mandates. If we create a structure on top of another structure, it might take another four years. Out there, people are despondent and worried about why their complaints have still not been resolved,” said Dr Maswanganyi.
The committees noted the urgency of the matter, particularly since the affected former public servants are now elderly and some have since died, with their beneficiaries and dependants still awaiting clarity. The committees agreed that the next step is to obtain legal advice on implementing the JTT recommendations and to convene the high-level political engagement. They will also work to determine which existing government institutions can execute the required interventions.
Mr De Villiers also stressed the importance of ensuring the recommendations are legally checked, placed before the committees in the correct form and dealt with as speedily as possible so that they can be sent to the National Assembly. “I fully appreciate that this has been a long and difficult process, but we must ensure that the matter is concluded correctly,” he said.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.
