Cape Town - Deputy Minister of Finance, Nhlanhla Nene, today praised the National Treasury's special pensions unit for reducing the backlog for pension applications of liberation veterans from 3 810 outstanding applications to 48 by last month.
A backlog of 2 106 applications, which had been in the appeals process, had been all completed by April.
Nene, who was briefing the standing committee on finance in Parliament today, said "considerable progress" had been made in disbursing special pensions, adding that the National Treasury had to overcome a number of issues such as a low morale and work ethic among staff in the special pensions unit and a badly organised filing system.
Nene pointed out that the Special Pensions Act was just one of many government measures to assist veterans, adding that the aim of the act was to assist veterans to make up for the time that had been lost when they could have been investing in saving for retirement, but had been unable to during apartheid.
Kabelo Jonathon, the National Treasury's senior manager of special pensions, said at present, 6 974 beneficiaries received monthly payments, under the Special Pension Act, which was introduced in 1996 to address the shortage of benefits for those that had fought against apartheid.
Under the act, two application periods have been held: one that ended in 2006, aimed at those over the age of 35 at the time the act was introduced and a second period aimed at those younger than 35, which closed on December 31 last year.
Jonathon said a total of 71 104 applications had been filed during the two periods, of which 21 277 have so far been approved.
The number of approvals also includes those who had qualified for special pensions but had later opted for Non-Statutory Force pension fund.
A total of 35 478 applications had been declined, while 4 976 applications were still being processed.
Jonathon said the National Treasury had taken several measures to tackle the backlog for over 35s, including the appointment of appropriately skilled personnel in the adjudication and appeal sections, the training of new staff for a call centre and renovation of offices.
Added to this, the Special Pension Board is now processing applications in 90 days, rather than the one year it had taken when applications for those over 35 had been made.
Jonathon said the setting up of regional boards had helped to cut down on the time it took to process applications.
In the most recent applications period, aimed at those aged below 35 at the onset of the act in 1996, 7 185 of the 9 924 applications between January 2009 and December 31, 2010 had been processed.
Jonathon, however, said his unit had also had to deal with fraud and corruption - mostly in the form of fake biographies - which he conceded had been taking up much of his time.
The National Treasury had been able to pick up a number of fraudulent activities through cross checks with the police's database, the Department of Home Affairs and Department of Labour, he said.
In all, 141 cases had been referred to the Special Investigating Unit and 18 to the Hawks, involving beneficiaries who are suspected of defrauding the state under the Special Pensions Act.
Two officials had been dismissed at the special pension unit's Port Elizabeth office and a further six officials are also being investigated, he said.
Jonathon said some applications had been removed from the database after National Treasury officials had been unable to contact them - despite making telephone calls, visits and sending out a final letter of demand.
However, he said applicants who had been removed from the database could have their application reactivated if they sent a letter to the head of special pensions, along with relevant supporting documents, such as affidavits, service certificates and a biography.
He said following a recommendation from the ANC office of the secretary general, the party's parliamentary constituency officers had received training on the Special Pension Act - particularly on areas such as how to draft a biography in accordance with the act.
The training had been completed in July last year and had also been extended to Azapo and the PAC, he said.
