Hon Chairperson, it's a pleasure to follow after the hon Marais. As he said, the principal Act of 1996 made provision for pensions to be paid to persons who had made sacrifices to establish democracy in South Africa, and who, as a result, were not in a position to provide for a pension and for the payment of lump sums to eligible dependants in the case of deceased persons. In the intervening years a large number of so-called implementation difficulties or challenges arose that led to an inequitable situation as far as the treatment of pensioners and survivors was concerned.
The Bill before the House today aims to address these difficulties and the inequities that arose. The IFP supports the overriding objective of the Bill, which is to extend pensions and benefits to a wider group of qualifying persons.
It is with sadness, though, that I have to say that in 1996 freedom fighters from the IFP, who were defenders of their own protection and freedom had been overlooked. We, however, realised that at that time this registration resulted from a bilateral deal between the ANC and the then National Party. That exclusion of the IFP was wrong and it will remain wrong. We will, however, not stand in the way of other deserving people benefiting from this pension fund. In conclusion, the IFP supports the Bill, but we want to emphasise that the new group of beneficiaries needs more than hand-outs in the form of special pensions. Rather, they need skills training and development programmes that will enhance their suitability for the job market. The IFP, with these comments, nevertheless will support this Bill.