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Old Age Pensions in South Africa
Author(s) -
Van Zyl Elize
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
international social security review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.349
H-Index - 28
eISSN - 1468-246X
pISSN - 0020-871X
DOI - 10.1111/1468-246x.00172
Subject(s) - pension , social assistance , social exclusion , pension system , economic growth , social protection , population , business , state (computer science) , social sector , development economics , public economics , economics , political science , finance , medicine , environmental health , algorithm , computer science
This article briefly describes the old age pension system in South Africa, with a special focus on its strengths and the challenges it faces. The article shows that the most pertinent concerns are the level of exclusion from the contributory pension funds, the extent of reliance on the social assistance programme and the lack of institutional capacity to deliver the social assistance programme effectively. The proposed reforms are aimed at achieving a better integrated pension system where contributions are mandatory for all formal sector workers and where contributions are preserved for retirement. The underlying objectives are to limit the growing dependence on social assistance from the State, and at the same time to increase the effectiveness of the social assistance scheme for the target population.