| 2) | Any member or former member of the Defence Force who has suffered any damage or loss as a result of an act or omission arising from any training or service under this Act, whether or not legal proceedings have been or are to be instituted, may in writing apply to the Compensation Board established by subsection (3) for compensation, setting out fully the grounds on which the application is based, the extent and nature of the damage or loss and the compensation desired. |
| 3) | A Compensation Board (hereinafter called the Board) is hereby established, and the Board members must be appointed by the Minister, after consultation with the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Labour, and they must receive the emoluments prescribed. |
| 4) | The functions of the Board are to consider any application referred to it and to make recommendations to the Minister, or an officer acting on his or her behalf, as to- |
| a) | the granting or refusal of the application or any part thereof; |
| b) | the amount of compensation to be paid if the application is granted; and |
| c) | the conditions, if any, under which the compensation is granted. |
| ii) | such number of other members, not exceeding four, as the Minister may determine. |
| b) | The members of the Board hold office for three years at a time or for such period as the Minister determines. |
| c) | The Minister may appoint alternate members to fill in for members who are absent from any meeting of the Board. |
| d) | At any meeting an alternate member has all the rights and obligations of the member whose place he or she takes. |
| e) | The quorum for a meeting of the Board consists of the chairperson, or the acting chairperson, and two other members, and any decision of the majority present at any properly constituted meeting is the decision of the Board. |
| f) | Where the Board consists of more than two members, the chairperson, or the acting chairperson, has a casting vote in addition to his or her deliberative vote in the event of an equality of votes on any matter. |
| 6) | The Board must adhere to any procedure prescribed. |
| 7) | Any application to the Board must be accompanied by such documents as may be necessary to support the application. |
| 8) | The Board may cause such investigation to be made in connection with the application and in such manner as it may deem necessary in order to enable it to furnish its recommendation. |
| 9) | For purposes of the investigation referred to in subsection (8), the Board may summon witnesses, cause an oath or affirmation to be administered to them, examine them and call for the production of books, documents and objects. |
| 10) | A summons for the attendance of a witness or for the production of any book, document or object before the Board must be signed and issued by the chairperson of the Board in the prescribed form and must be served in the same manner as a summons for the attendance of a witness at a civil trial in a magistrates' court. |
| 11) | Any person who has been summoned to attend any sitting of the Board as a witness or who has given evidence before the Board is entitled to claim expenses incurred as if the summons were one requiring the attendance of such witness at a civil trial in a magistrates' court at the place where the sitting takes place. |
| 12) | In connection with the giving of any evidence or the production of any book or document before the Board, the law relating to privilege as applicable to a witness giving evidence or summoned to produce a book or a document at a civil trial in a magistrates' court applies. |
| a) | fails to comply with a summons in terms of subsection (10); |
| b) | fails to produce documents, books or objects required by a summons; or |
| c) | makes a false statement, knowing it to be false, in any application for compensation under this section or to the Board in connection with any such application, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction, in the case of an offence referred to in paragraph (a) or (b), to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months, and in the case of an offence referred to in paragraph (c), to any punishment that may lawfully be imposed for perjury. |
| a) | The recommendations of the Board in terms of subsection (4) must be referred to the Minister or officer contemplated in that subsection, as the case may be, for a decision on the application. |
| b) | The Minister or officer concerned must notify the applicant in writing of his or her decision, and cause effect to be given to the said decision. |
| 15) | The Board may after a reasonable time has elapsed and on the grounds of any new facts presented to it, review any previous recommendation for a greater or lesser amount to be paid in compensation to a member who was duly compensated. |
| 16) | The Department must maintain a secretariat to support the Board, keep appropriate records and handle queries referred to it in connection with any relevant matter pertaining to injury or psychological damage and compensation of members or former members of the Defence Force. |
| 17) | The expenses of the Board and the compensation payments made as a result of the Board's recommendations must be defrayed from money appropriated for those purposes. |
| 18) | Any compensation payment in terms of this section is free from taxation on payment to the member or former member concerned. |
| 19) | A member of the Board who is not in the full-time employ of the State must be paid such remuneration and allowances in respect of his or her services as the Minister may determine with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance. |
| a) | make a recommendation contemplated in subsection (4) within 12 months of receiving an application contemplated in subsection (2); and |
| b) | furnish a report to the Minister on its activities annually, which report must be tabled together with the annual report and financial statements contemplated in section 65 of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act 1 of 1999). |
[Date of commencement of s. 57: to be proclaimed.]
