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Payout rescues Chetty

LEE Chetty's sleepless nights are over. Today she will be off to the University of Cape Town to pursue her studies to become a chartered accountant now that the Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF) has paid out her mother's pension fund.

A week ago Consumer Line reported on Chetty's plight. After passing matric with seven distinctions she had no money to pay for campus residence at UCT.

Chetty's mother, Venmalla Chetty, who spent the entire festive season calling Consumer Line for help, was relieved when we delivered the news that her pension fund was finally cleared to be paid by the Pension Fund System.

The clearing process entails getting a tax clearance from SARS and the beneficiary's bank must also confirm that the money will be paid into a correct account.

Once this process is done, the GEPF can then pay the beneficiaries.

Chetty, 17, of Tongaat, had been banking on the 50% which was apportioned to her mother when she obtained a divorce from her father in 2007, she said.

She said her mother adhered to the 60 days waiting period, as set by the GEPF after she claimed her share on October 6 last year.

The funds were paid on Monday night after Consumer Line asked the GEPF to speed up the payment.

Deloitte and Touche had offered her a bursary for tuition fees, but a thankful Chetty can now afford to take care of the rest.

Her 45-year-old mother admitted delaying to claim her 50% share from her former husband's pension fund because she did not know at the time that the law had changed.

Before 2012 the divorced spouse could only receive a portion of the member's pension fund upon resignation or death of the government employee, she said.

The mother of two said she only got to know about the changes late last year after she failed to raise funds to fly Lee to attend a Biology Olympiad in Korea.

She had asked her former husband to finance the trip when she got to know that a clean break principle - which made it possible for her to access the funds immediately - is now applicable to state employees, she said

Venmalla was relieved that she would no longer take loans to finance her daughter's education.

Ofentse Seleka, spokesperson for the Government Pension Administration Agency, the communication wing of GEPF, confirmed that Chetty's payment was cleared on Monday night to reflect in her bank account by yesterday.

A grateful Chetty can now accompany her daughter to Cape Town.

Chetty is not the only beneficiary to receive their money from the GEPF in recent weeks after Consumer Line's intervention.

l Motebang Potlaki, of KwaMashu in Kwazulu-Natal, was also paid his money last week.

In his story last week Consumer Line omitted the fact that he could not access his R5-million payout as he had chosen to have it invested in a retirement annuity.

Seleka said Potlaki could not access his money in cash as he opted to transfer it to an external fund, called Absa Investment Management Service.

Potlaki will therefore receive a monthly allowance from the fund until he dies. This is the method many experts recommend as it ensures that pension money will not be wasted on unnecessary spending.

l Mqulusi Mhlungu of Pinetown in Durban also confirmed he received one third of his pension fund of R250000 last Thursday.

As a result he was able to repay the R64000 loan he took with an unregistered money lender, and other debts he had incurred when he waited for his pension payout. He also managed to reconnect electricity to his home.

"My dignity has now been restored. It was really difficult living in the dark like a beggar for the past 13 months," said a relieved Mhlungu.

 

 

For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays

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