The payment of pensions to beneficiaries of the former Venda Pension Fund are still being finalised, said National Treasury on Tuesday.
In its statement, Treasury said the technical team working on the matter is still in the process of reviewing processes.
“Consequently, based on advice from the technical team, the National Treasury has agreed to allow the actuaries more time to complete the review process.”
In August, the Ministry of Finance announced that Minister Malusi Gigaba intended to resolve the payment of pensions by the end of November 2017.
In its update on Tuesday, Treasury said they were working together with the Government Pensions Administration Agency (GPAA) to address the remedial action contained in the Report of the Public Protector regarding the matter.
The GPAA embarked on a process of reviewing available data to ensure that the project is implemented accurately. Treasury also enlisted the services of an actuary in an attempt to establish a reliable database of potential beneficiaries of the proposed remedial action.
“Due to the nature of the project and the time that has since passed, the establishment of a reliable database and the verification of records are most important and yet extremely complex aspects of the project. Records and other information of claimants have been provided to the appointed actuaries to evaluate whether there is any potential prejudice and/or loss.”
It said the process of record/data assessment requires thorough evaluation.
“Given the complexity and the nature of the data quality, it became clear that the National Treasury needed more time to ensure that the remedial action is implemented accurately and all affected parties are satisfied with the efforts and the outcome thereof. We are cognisant that the project has taken long to conclude and, therefore, it is our obligation to avoid any margin of error as much as possible to ensure that all of the parties affected by this process are satisfied.”
Treasury said the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, and the Office of the Public Protector have been kept abreast of progress made in the matter.
“The National Treasury has accordingly, formally advised the Public Protector and the Speaker of the National Assembly of the need to extend the period to complete the evaluation.
“The National Treasury remains committed to finalising the implementation of the remedial action where practically possible, within reason,” it said. - SAnews.gov.za
