There has been a dramatic deterioration in government finances, from municipal and provincial level up to national level.
Democracy could be defined as “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections”.
It is imperative that one investigate who the “people“ is. For instance, does the principle of one-size-fits-all apply? Could what is considered in the interest of the “whole” become the driving force to disown some of the people of what is theirs, to the benefit of the entire population? In the case of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) the assets in the fund belong to the pensioners, as is the case with other retirement schemes.
Under the GEPF Law, 1996, “Members and pensioners of the Fund shall be entitled to representation on the Board, which