Agricultural Research Act, 1990 (Act No. 86 of 1990)

19. Staff of ARC and conditions of service
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(1)

(a)The president may, subject to paragraph (b) and on such conditions as the Council may determine, appoint the employees whom he deems necessary to perform the functions of the ARC.
(b)The ARC shall pay to its employees such remuneration, allowances, subsidies and other benefits as the Council may determine, in accordance with a system approved from time to time by the Minister, with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance.
(c)The ARC may, in addition to the employees referred to in paragraph (a), be assisted in the performance of its functions by officers and employees in the public service who have been placed at the disposal of the ARC in terms of section 14(3)(a) of the Public Service Act, 1984 (Act No. 111 of 1984).
(d)Any person who occupies a post in the public service, may with his written consent and the consent of the head of the department in which he is employed, be transferred to the ARC, after which he shall from the date of his transfer be deemed to have been appointed under this section: Provided that—
(i)his salary or salary scale in respect of the post shall not be less favourable than the salary or salary scale which was applicable to him as a person employed by the State;
(ii)any sick or vacation leave which stood to the credit of such person immediately prior to his transfer, shall be deemed to be leave credited to him in the employment of the ARC;
(iii)pensionable service performed or bought back by such person before his transfer shall be deemed to be pensionable service performed by him in the service of the ARC;
(iv)no person shall as a consequence of such transfer and appointment acquire a retirement age which is higher than that which applied to him in the service of the State; and
(v)such a person may apply—
(aa)to be declared a dormant member in terms of section 15 of the General Pensions Act, 1979 (Act No. 29 of 1979);
(bb)to become in terms of the Associated Institutions Pension Fund Act, 1963 (Act No. 41 of 1963), a member of the fund as defined in section 1 of that Act; or
(cc)to become a member of an own pension fund as referred to in the first proviso to paragraph (g).
(e)The salary or salary scale referred to in paragraph (d) (i) may not be altered without the written consent of the person concerned.
(f)The Council may, on such conditions as it may deem fit, second an employee of the ARC, either for a particular service or for a period of time, to the service of a department of State, the government of any other country or territory, an institution or a person in or outside the Republic, provided such an employee's rights, privileges and benefits by virtue of his conditions of service as an employee of the ARC are not adversely affected by such secondment: Provided that an employee shall not be seconded to the service of the government of such other country or territory, or an institution or person outside the Republic, unless the employee consents thereto.
(g)The ARC shall for the purposes of the Associated Institutions Pension Fund Act, 1963 (Act No. 41 of 1963), be deemed to be an associated institution: Provided that the ARC may, under the Pension Funds Act, 1956 (Act No. 24 of 1956), establish any other pension fund or funds for its employees: Provided that the claim of an employee against such new pension fund on the date on which he becomes a member of the fund, shall not be smaller than the claim which such employee had on the said date in respect of service performed as a member of a pension fund administered by the Department of National Health and Population Development of which he was a member on the date immediately preceding the date on which he joined the new pension fund.
(h)In the case where an employee applies for membership of, and his pension benefits are transferred to, a pension fund referred to in paragraph (g)—
(i)his membership of the pension fund from which his benefits are transferred shall terminate and he will have no further claim against such pension fund;
(ii)the pension fund from which an employee's benefits are transferred shall pay to the pension fund of which he becomes a member, an amount equal to the financing percentage of the first-mentioned fund, multiplied by the actuarial liability of that fund in respect of such employee as on the date of the transfer, plus interest calculated at the bank rate from the date of the transfer to the date of payment thereof;
(iii)the pension fund from which an employee's benefits are transferred shall cede any claim which it may have against the employee to the pension fund of which he becomes a member; and
(iv)the State shall, in respect of that employee on his becoming a member of a pension fund referred to in paragraph (g) established in terms of the Pension Funds Act, 1956 (Act No. 24 of 1956), pay to such pension fund an amount equal to the difference between the actuarial liability of the pension fund from which the employee's benefits are transferred and the amount paid in terms of subparagraph (ii), plus  interest calculated at the bank rate from the date of the transfer to the date of payment.
(i)The provisions of paragraph (h) shall mutatis mutandis apply if an employee who on the date of his transfer under paragraph (d)(v)(aa) elected to be a dormant member, at a later stage under section 15 of the General Pensions Act, 1979 (Act No. 29 of 1979), elects to have his accrued pension benefits transferred to another pension fund.
(j)For the purposes of this section—
(i)the actuarial liability of a pension fund in respect of a specific member or group of members of the fund, means the actuarial liability, as determined by an actuary instructed by the Minister of National Health and Population Development, with regard to the said member or group of members of the fund;
(ii)the financing percentage of a pension fund means the market value of the assets of the fund expressed as a percentage of the total actuarial liability of the fund, after such assets and liabilities have been reduced with the amount of the liability of the fund towards all its pensioners, as determined at the time of the most recent actuarial assessment of the fund or any reappraisal thereof done on the instructions of the Minister of National Health and Population Development; and
(iii)bank rate means the rate determined from time to time under section 10(2) of the South African Reserve Bank Act, 1989 (Act No. 90 of 1989).

 

(2)The ARC may from time to time on such conditions and against such security as it may deem fit—
(a)provide collateral security, including guarantees, to a registered financial institution in respect of a loan granted to an employee by that financial institution, to enable the employee to acquire, improve or enlarge immovable property for residential purposes;
(b)build, cause to be built, purchase or rent houses, flats or flat buildings for occupation by employees, and may sell or let those houses or flats to employees, or otherwise dispose of, let or otherwise deal with those houses, flats or flat buildings; and
(c)establish, institute, erect or maintain sports or recreational societies, social clubs, social and health services, restaurants, hostels, bursary schemes for purposes of study or other similar undertakings or schemes which in its opinion may be beneficial to its employees.

 

(3)If a person who is employed in any capacity by or on behalf of the ARC suffers an injury or contracts a disease while engaged in, and which is directly attributable to, any activity in the course of such employment, the ARC may with the consent of the Minister, granted with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance, in its discretion pay compensation to such person or, in the event of his death, to his dependants.

 

(4)The provisions of subsection (3) shall not affect the right of any person to claim damages in respect of any injury or disease referred to in that subsection.