Government Employees Pension Law, 1996Schedule 1 : Rules of the Government Employees Pension Fund14. Benefits payable to members14.6 Benefits on the death of a pensioner |
| 14.6.1 | If a pensioner dies within a period of five years after he or she had retired or was retired or discharged, a benefit shall be paid to his or her beneficiaries or to his or her estate if there is no beneficiary equal to the sum of the annuity which would have been payable to him or her during the period as from the first day of the month immediately following the date on which he or she dies up to and including the last day of the month in which the said period of five years would have expired had he or she not died, based on the amount of his or her annuity at his or her death. For the purpose of calculation of the benefit the additional amount payable in terms of rule 14.2.1(c) is not taken into account. If a benefit referred to in this rule is payable to two or more beneficiaries, such gratuity shall be paid to any such beneficiaries and in such proportions as the Board may determine. |
| 14.6.2 | If a pensioner dies and he or she is survived by a spouse, there shall be paid to such spouse a spouse's pension which is equal to one-half of the annuity which the pensioner received on the date of his or her death: Provided that for members who opted for a reduced annuity or gratuity in terms of rule 14.2.2, the spouse's pension will be increased to three quarters of the annuity which the pensioner received on the date of his or her death: Provided further that where there is more than one spouse, the spouse's pension will be divided equally among the spouses. In the event of spouses and orphans being eligible for benefits, the deceased parent of the orphans will also be treated as a spouse for the purpose of apportioning the spouse's pension. |
| 14.6.3 | If a pensioner, whose pension commenced on or after 1 December 2002 dies and there is no surviving spouse or where a spouse who receives benefits in terms of rule 14.6.2 subsequently dies, an orphan's pension will be payable to eligible children, if any, equal to the following percentages of the annuity which the pensioner received on the date of his or her death: |
| (a) | twenty per cent for one eligible child; |
| (b) | thirty per cent for two eligible children; and |
| (c) | forty per cent for three or more eligible children. |
Provided that where an orphan's pension only commences after the subsequent death of the spouse who receives benefits in terms of rule 14.6.2, the orphan's pensions will be based upon the annuity which the pensioner received on the date of his or her death, increased by the ratio of the spouse's pension at the date of his or her death to the initial spouse's pension.
| 14.6.4 | An orphan's pension payable in terms of rule 14.6.3 ceases when the child ceases to be eligible in terms of rule 1.8. |
| 14.6.5 | The provisions of rules 14.5.5, 14.5.6, 14.5.7 and 14.5.8 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the benefit in terms of rule 14.6.2 and 14.6.3. |
[Rule 14.6 substituted by Notice No. 1073 of 8 August 2003]