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The Government Employees Pension Fund GEPF has granted an annual pension increase of 5.55% to its pensioners and beneficiaries with effect from 1 April 2023.

GEPF’s annual pension increase is made up of four elements defined in the approved Pension Increase Policy of the Board. The Board does not always grant all four elements each year, but it chooses the elements to be awarded based on affordability (as discussed in question 1). The four elements are the following:

• Basic increase: 75% of the year-on-year change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all pensioners who retired on or before 1 April 2022. Pensioners who retired after this date receive a proportional share of the increase based on the number of months they have been retired.
• Further inflation-related increase: An inflation related increase of more than 75% of the change in the CPI is applicable to pensioners who retired on or before 1 April of the previous year. Similarly, pensioners who retired after this date receive a proportional share of the increase based on the number of months they have been retired.
• Catch-up increase: For pensioners who retired before 1 April of the previous year and whose pensions have fallen below the amount paid at retirement adjusted for full inflation to date, an amount is paid to compensate for the effect of inflation. This amount is added after the basic increase and the further inflation-related increase. The catch-up increase could be 100% of the change in the CPI from the date of retirement to 30 November of the previous year, or a lower amount that the Fund can afford.
• Supplementary increase: Any increase that the Board chooses to make that is not related to inflation.

Pensioners who retired on or after 1 April 2022 will be awarded a portion of the increase. For example, a pensioner who went on pension on 1 November 2022 may receive an increase that is as follows: Pension before increase: R5 000 Pension after increase: R 5 115