The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) has moved swiftly to dismiss widespread online reports
Image: Freepik
The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) has moved swiftly to dismiss widespread reports alleging that the retirement age for its members has been changed.
This comes after widely circulated reports claimed that the pension fund had officially shifted the retirement age for public sector employees from 65 to 67 years.
The reports further claimed that "this major policy adjustment aims to improve pension sustainability and align with increasing life expectancy across the country"
However, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, the GEPF categorically denied the claims, stating that the retirement age for government employees remains unchanged.
"The GEPF is aware of inaccurate articles circulating on social media and the internet alleging that the retirement age for GEPF members has been amended," the fund said.
"The retirement age of government employees who are part of the GEPF HAS NOT CHANGED".
The fund further clarified the current retirement age structure for its members:
The GEPF also urged members and the public to rely only on official communication channels for accurate information.
IOL previously reported that, in a move that will not sit well with many public servants, the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) has implemented updated actuarial interest factors, effective from October 1, 2025, which will reduce pre-retirement exit benefits by an average of 15%.
"The revised factors result in actuarial interest values that are, on average, 15% lower than those that would result from the 2021 factors.
"The extent to which individual members’ actuarial interest will differ between the 2021 and 2024 factors depends on their age and category (i.e., whether they are Service members or not)".
IOL Business
mthobisi.nozulela@iol.co.za
Related Topics: