Pension to cover gay partners
2003-08-13 22:03
Special Report
The South African government has announced a joint venture to reduce the cost of anti-retroviral drugs with a Swiss company.
Pretoria - Radical changes to the public servants' pension fund, which will bring relief to government employees affected by the HIV/Aids pandemic in future, were published in the government gazette this week.
Anton Louwrens, chief executive of the Public Servants Association (PSA), said the changes would benefit public servants.
One of the most important amendments is the change to the definition of a spouse. In the past, spouse referred to a legally married man or woman.
The amendment now includes a "life partner" (also same sex partners) and more than one partner in common law marriages.
Louwrens said an employee would now be able to register more than one life partner with the fund who will be able to lay a claim to the pension when the employee dies.
Provision has also been made for a "child pension". This means that dependent children will also be able to claim part of the pension benefits when an employee without a spouse dies.
One child can get 20% of the pension benefit, two can claim 30% and three or more children 40%.
In future, a funeral benefit of R7 500 will be paid to the next-of-kin of an employee. The same amount will be paid out if the employee's life partner dies and R3 000 will be paid out when an employee's child dies.
Older pensioners will also be advantaged by the changes. The contribution they get annually will now be linked to the consumer price index.
Members will now also have the option to ensure that their spouses are better off after their death. In the past, a spouse could only claim 50% of the pension benefit. This will increase to 75% if the employee agrees to a smaller monthly pension or gratification.
Louwrens said many members were not satisfied with the existing spouse pension of 50% and that the PSA was still looking into this matter.
He said that the pension fund was "healthy" and that it could meet all its responsibilities towards its members.
- Beeld