Madam Deputy Speaker, hon members, the Transnet Pension Fund Amendment Bill is a direct result of the restructuring processes at Transnet, and in particular the strategic disposal of noncore assets.
The hon Minister spoke at length about the context of this Bill. Understandably, the disposal processes caused a great deal of concern and anxiety amongst the affected employees about their retirement benefits. As a result the labour unions, Transnet management, and the Minister for Public Enterprises agreed, after negotiations, that a special amendment of the Transnet Pension Fund Act was necessary to ensure that the disposal process had little effect on the retirement savings of employees.
The Bill therefore provides that transferring employees and pensioners can retain membership in existing Transnet pension and retirement funds. Very importantly, the Bill retains the status of the Transnet Pension Fund as "paragraph (a)" funds in terms of the 1956 Pension Funds Act. This means that when a member leaves employment he or she is entitled to have his or her lump sum benefits taxed on the basis that that portion attributable to membership prior to 1 March 1998 will not be subject to tax. The IFP welcomes this protection given to the retirement savings of qualifying members.
The Bill provides that members' pensions may in future be attached not just in terms of the Divorce Act but also the Maintenance Act. The IFP supports this as this is yet another victory for women and children.
The IFP is satisfied that the Bill is a result of extensive negotiations between the relevant stakeholders and that it is in their common and best interest. After much re-engineering of the Bill and the elimination of legalistic jargon, the IFP will therefore support the Bill. I thank you.