Budget Speech 2015

Honourable Members, I am pleased to be able to report that under the capable management of the Public Investment Corporation, the retirement funding assets of public service members and pensioners have grown strongly over the past year. The Government Employees Pension Fund remains well-funded and soundly managed.

Pensioners of the GEPF, the Associated Institutions Pension Fund and the Temporary Employees Pension Fund, as well as recipients of special and military pensions, will receive a 5.8 per cent pension increase with effect from April 2015.

We have noted that some civil servants are resigning from GEPF, driven by high levels of indebtedness or incorrect information on the retirement reform process. I want to assure civil servants that the pension reforms currently under consideration will not adversely affect benefits to members of the GEPF.

Ngiyaphinda futhi ngiyaxwayisa ngalesisimo esingaba nomthelela ongemuhle uma umkhuba wokudla imbewu unganqandwa. Ngiyagcizelela futhi ukuthi akukho nakancane okugida kujeqeza izimpesheni sezisebenzi, ikakhulukazi ezikahulumeni. Ngoba ngisho nezinguquko ezihlongozwayo azizichaphazeli nakancane ezikuhulumeni. Siyazi ukuthi iningi labantu bakithi bacindezelwe izikweletu. Kodwa ukudla okusenqolobaneni akusixazululi isimo sakho, kunalokho kwenza isimo sibe simbi kakhulu, ikakhulukazi lapho umuntu esethatha umhlalaphansi