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A guide to social pensions

In the Republic of South Africa (and in South West Africa) social pensions are non-contributory and are paid out of state revenue, the funds for the purpose being voted annually by Parliament. With minor exceptions, the pensions are granted subject to a means test: that is, income levels are laid down which fix the maximum allowable income including pension. If the total income exceeds this amount an applicant will not be awarded a pension. When these totals are being calculated a certain sum is permitted, called ‘free income’, which does not affect the amount of pension that may be granted. (This ‘free income’ might be made up of earnings, or interest from investments, or profits from agriculture, etc.)These different figures vary according to the kinds of pension and to the population group. They are revised from time to time. Changes are announced by the Minister of Finance in his budget speech to Parliament and usually become effective some months later when details have been worked out by the departments dealing with the respective population groups. Because the conditions under which pensions are granted are fairly frequently changed, and improved, an application which was not successful one year may well succeed a year or two later. Therefore any applicant whose circumstances may have changed, or who believes that new rules may help his case, is advised to apply again. / Revised Edition

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:rhodes/vital:28785
Date03 1900
CreatorsBarratt, Inez
PublisherS. A. Institute of Race Relations
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext, book
Format38 pages, pdf
RightsS. A. Institute of Race Relations, No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher

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