GEPF Death Benefits : Government Employees Pension Fund
Organization Name : GEPF
Facility Name : Death Benefits
Applicable For : Government Employees in South Africa
Website : https://www.gepf.co.za/death-benefits/
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GEPF Death Benefits
Death benefits are paid when a member dies while in service, or within five years of becoming a pensioner. The GEPF also pays annuities to qualifying surviving spouse(s) or orphan(s) of members who die while in service or after retiring.
Related / Similar Facility : GEPF Funeral Benefits
Death while in service :
The benefit paid is based on the member’s period of pensionable service. It is payable to the beneficiaries of the deceased member or, if there are no beneficiaries, to the member’s estate.
Death after becoming a pensioner :
Retirement or discharge annuities are guaranteed for five years after a member has retired.
If the member dies within this period, his or her beneficiaries receive the balance of the five-year annuity payments – excluding the annual supplement, in a once-off cash lump sum.
Spouse’s annuity :
A qualifying spouse or eligible life partner is entitled to a percentage of the annuity paid to the member at the time of death.
The same applies if the member dies while in service and had a full potential service period of at least 10 years – that is pensionable service years plus unexpired years until normal retirement.
Child’s Pension :
The GEPF pays annuities (child pensions) to the eligible children of members or pensioners who passes away on or after 1 June 2018.
Death Gratuity
This depends on whether or not you completed a Beneficiary Nomination WP1002 Form before your death.
If an up-to-date form was completed and the beneficiaries are 18 years or older, they must :
** Complete the Banking Particulars Z894 form, and
** Provide certified copies –not older than six months, of their green bar-coded identity documents.
If a form was completed but the beneficiaries are younger than 18, GEPF needs :
** Certified copies –not older than six months, of the beneficiaries’ birth certificates;
** A guardian letter; and
** A certified copy – not older than six months, of the guardian’s green bar-coded identity document.
If no valid beneficiary nomination form exists, the GEPF may divide and award the gratuity among the beneficiaries according to the rules of the Fund.
Death Within Five Years Of Retirement
Retirement or discharge annuities are guaranteed for five years after a GEPF member becomes a pensioner. If a pensioner dies within this period, the balance of the five-year annuities, excluding the annual supplement, will be paid to the beneficiaries in a once-off cash lump sum.
How can a beneficiary access this benefit?
A spouse has to complete the Application for Spouse’s Pension and submit it to the GEPF with the following documents
** A certified copy– not older than six months, of the green bar-coded identity document.
** A certified copy –not older than six months, of the pensioner’s death certificate.
** A certified copy of the pensioner’s green bar-coded identity document or passport and confirmation of death by the Department of Home Affairs and
** A certified copy of the marriage certificate –religious, customary union or civil, as issued by Home Affairs.
Alternatively, the spouse can provide proof of marriage by means of a certified copy of a customary union certificate, Hindu certificate or lobola affidavit and confirmation of the customary union by representatives from both families.