| (1) | If a person who is or was in the employ of the board caused the board any loss or damage because he— |
| (a) | failed to collect moneys due to the board for the collection of which he is or was responsible; |
| (b) | is or was responsible for an irregular payment of the board's moneys or for a payment of such moneys not supported by a proper voucher; |
| (c) | is or was responsible for fruitless expenditure of the board's moneys due to an omission to carry out his duties; |
| (d) | is or was responsible for a deficiency in, or for the destruction of, or damage to the board's moneys, stamps, face value documents and forms having a potential value, securities, equipment, stores or any other property of the board; |
| (e) | due to an omission to carry out his duties, is or was responsible for a claim against the board, |
the general manager shall determine the amount of such loss or damage and shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (5), by notice in writing, order that person to pay to him, within 30 days from the date of such notice, the amount so determined.
| (2) | If a person who is in the employ of the board and who has in terms of subsection (1) been ordered to pay an amount, fails to pay the amount within the period stipulated in the notice in question, the amount shall, subject to the provisions of subsections (4), (6) and (7), be deducted from his salary or wages: Provided that such deduction shall not exceed one-fourth of his salary or wages at a time. |
| (3) | If a person who was in the employ of the board and who has in terms of subsection (1) been ordered to pay an amount, fails to pay the amount within the period stipulated in the notice in question, the general manager shall, subject to the provisions of subsections (4), (6) and (7), recover the amount from the person concerned by legal process. |
| (4) | If a person who has in terms of subsection (1) been ordered to pay an amount makes, within the period stipulated in the notice in question, an offer to pay the amount in instalments, the general manager may allow payment in such instalments as he may consider reasonable: Provided that if the redemption of that amount in terms of the offer will not be effected within a period of 12 months calculated from the date on which the first instalment is payable, the approval of the board shall be obtained for the payment thereof over a period in excess of the period mentioned, and the board may determine the other terms and conditions subject to which the amount shall be paid. |
| (5) | If for any reason whatsoever the general manager is of the opinion that the amount of a loss or damage referred to in subsection (1) should not be recovered or should be recovered in part only from the person responsible therefor, he may request the board to exempt that person from payment of the whole or a portion of that amount, and the board may in its discretion approve of the whole or a portion of such amount not being recovered: Provided that no amount shall be so exempted where such loss or damage is the result of theft or fraud by that person. |
| (6) | A person who has in terms of subsection (1) been ordered to pay an amount may, within a period of 30 days from the date of such order, in writing request the general manager, stating the grounds for his request, that a request as contemplated in subsection (5), be addressed to the board, and if the general manager refuses to address such a request to the board or if the board refuses to approve, as contemplated in the said subsection, of the whole or a portion of the amount in question not being recovered as requested, such person may within 30 days after he has been notified in writing of any such refusal, appeal against such refusal to the Minister, and the Minister may, after such further investigation as he may deem necessary, dismiss the appeal or order that the appellant be exempted either wholly or partly, according as he may consider fair and reasonable, from the payment of such amount. |
| (7) | A person who has in terms of subsection (1) been ordered to pay an amount may, instead of appealing to the Minister in accordance with subsection (6), apply within a period of 30 days from the date of the order, or within such further period as the court may allow, to a competent court for an order setting aside the first-mentioned order or reducing that amount, and the court may upon such an application, if it is not convinced by the general manager on the merits of the case that the order was rightly made or that that amount is correct, make an order setting aside such first-mentioned order or reducing that amount, as the case may be. |
| (8) | If an amount is reduced in terms of subsection (5), (6) or (7), the reduced amount shall mutatis mutandis be recovered in accordance with the provisions of subsections (1), (2), (3) and (4). |
| (9) | If a person who has in terms of subsection (1) been ordered to pay an amount, fails to pay such amount within the period stipulated in the notice in question, interest thereon shall be payable from the date immediately following on the date on which that period expires, at such rate as the board may determine. |
