Merchant Shipping Act, 1951 (Act No. 57 of 1951)Chapter IV : Engagement, Discharge, Repatriation, Payment, Discipline and General Treatment of Seafarers and Cadets124. Settlement of wages |
| (1) | When settlement of the wages of a seafarer of a South African ship is required to be and is completed before a proper officer, the said seafarer shall sign in the presence of the proper officer a release, in the prescribed form, of all claims in respect of the period of service concerned. The release shall also be signed by the proper officer and shall operate as a mutual discharge and settlement of all relative demands between the parties concerned, but shall not debar a claim under any law relating to workmen's compensation. |
[Section 124(1) substituted by section 29 of Act No. 12 of 2015]
| (2) | The release shall be retained by the proper officer, and shall be admissible in evidence. |
| (3) | Where the settlement of wages is by this Act required to be completed through or in the presence of a proper officer, no payment, receipt or settlement made otherwise shall operate as or be admitted as evidence of the release or satisfaction of any claim in respect of such wages. |
| (4) | Upon any payment being made by a master before a proper officer, the said officer shall on request sign and give to the master a statement of the whole amount so paid, and that statement shall as between the master and his employer be admissible as evidence that the master has made the payments therein mentioned. |
| (5) | A seafarer may except from the release signed by him under this section any specified claim or demand against the owner or master of the ship, and a note of any claim or demand so excepted shall be entered upon the release. The release shall not operate as a discharge or settlement of any claim or demand so noted, nor shall subsection (3) of this section apply to any payment, receipt, or settlement made with respect to any such claim or demand. |
[Section 124(5) substituted by section 29(i) of Act No. 12 of 2015]
[Section 124 substituted by section 19 of Act No. 30 of 1959]