Pension recalculation starts next month

The Public Officers’ Defined Contribution Pension Fund (PODCPF) will commence the process of paying recalculated retirement benefits for eligible members from October 1, 2026.

These are members affected by the Court Appeal judgement in Mafeta Monethi v Chairperson, Benefits Administration and 2 Ors- C of A (CIV) No.75/2024.

In an update to members, pensioners and beneficiaries, the Fund announced that calculations to determine the impact of the judgement have been completed and the results were considered by the government in its capacity as the employer and sponsor of the Fund.

PODCPF Principal Officer, Mamotlohi Mochebelele, said the government has directed the Fund to proceed with the implementation of the judgement.

Mochebelele noted that the judgement applies to eligible members whose pension benefits were governed by the pensions proclamation before they transitioned into the Fund when it was established in 2008.

“The affected members fall into members still in service and yet to retire, for those ones, the judgement will apply when their retirement benefits become due while members who have already returned after September 2011,” she explained in a statement.

Subsequent to the government’s direction to proceed with implementation of the Judgement, the Fund will immediately apply the 1/450 factor for eligible members’ retirement benefit yet to be processed.

For completeness, Mochebelele said, each affected pensioner or beneficiary will receive a letter detailing the outcome of the review, and, where applicable, the amount due.

The case marks the latest chapter in a long-running dispute over how to calculate benefits for public officers who served both the old and new pension regimes.