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The Social Security (Amendment) Act, 2004 (Bill No. 33)

A BILL

entitled

AN ACT to amend the Social Security Act, Cap. 318.

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows>-

Short title and commencement.

Cap. 318.

1. (1) The short title of this Act is the Social Security (Amendment) Act, 2004, and this Act shall be read and construed as one with the Social Security Act, hereinafter referred to as “the Principal Act”.
follows>-
(2) This Act shall be deemed to have come into force as
(a) the provisions of Article 9 with effect from the 3rd
January, 2004<
(b) the provisions of Articles 3 and 4 with effect from the
5th January, 2004< and
(c) the remaining provisions upon enactment of this Act.

Amendment of article 2 of the principal Act.

2. Sub-article (1) of article 2 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows>-
(a) for the definition “benefit year” there shall be substituted the following>-
“ “benefit year” means the period starting from the first Monday in January and ending on the last Sunday before the first Monday in January of the following year<”<
(b) in the definition “Director”, in the proviso thereto, for the words, “as the case may require<” there shall be substituted the words “as the case may require>” and immediately thereafter there shall be added the following new proviso>
“Provided further that in respect of the provisions of sub- article (1) of article 93 of this Act, and save as otherwise provided, the word Director means the Director responsible for the Department of the Elderly and Community Services, and includes any public officer in his department designated by him<”<
(c) in the definition “Minister” for the words, “or class of purposes<” there shall be substituted the words “or class of purposes>” and immediately thereafter there shall be added the following proviso>
“Provided that in respect of the provisions of article 93,
130 and 131, and save as otherwise provided, the word Minister means the Minister responsible for the elderly and includes any officer designated by the said Minister for a particular purpose or class of purposes<”< and
(d) in the definition “severely disabled person” in paragraph (c) thereof, for the words “TC II Deficiency< or” there shall be substituted the words “TC II Deficiency” and immediately thereafter there shall be added the words “Cerebellar Ataxia< or”.
3. In sub-article (2) of article 3 of the principal Act, immediately after the proviso thereto, there shall be added the following further proviso>-
“Provided further that in the case of any married person who is not legally separated or who has not been abandoned by his spouse and who on the 4th January, 2004 was in insurable employment and who after that date terminated his employment so as to partake of an early retirement scheme, as may be approved by the Minister responsible for finance, or is prior to the said date recognized as such by the Director, such person shall, if he so
C 785

Amendment of article 3 of the principal Act.

C 786

Amendment of article 12 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 28 of the principal Act.

Cap. 424.

Amendment of article 31 of the principal Act.

elects, be deemed to be a self-employed person if on his termination from his employment he satisfies the minimum contribution conditions required in terms of paragraph 2 of the Eleventh Schedule, calculated from his eighteenth birthday up to the date of his termination of his last employment.”.
4. Article 12 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows>- (a) sub-article (2) thereof shall be renumbered as sub-article
(3)< and
(b) immediately after sub-article (1) thereof, there shall be added the following new sub-article>
“(2) If a person in respect of whom sub-article (1) of this article applies is a married person who is legally separated and who is not gainfully occupied, then such person may opt to have any maintenance paid to him by the other spouse excluded from the calculation of means made in accordance with the provisions of Part I of the Second Schedule to this Act.” .
5. In sub-article (6) of article 28 of the principal Act, the words
“article 18(6)(a), (b) and (c).” shall be substituted by the words>
“article 18(6) (a), (b) and (c) of this Act, and where it has been proven that the person concerned has acted negligently by disregarding any safety precautions that he was obliged to take in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Authority Act, thereby causing the accident that resulted in the injury>
Provided that where it is proven that the employer was in breach of any of the provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Authority Act, the Director may claim from the employer any benefit paid to the insured person relating to such accident.”.
6. Article 31 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows>- (a) in paragraph (a) thereof, the words “where an allowance
under article 76 is being paid in respect of such child” shall be
deleted< and
(b) in paragraph (b) thereof, the words, “where an allowance under article 76 is being paid in respect of such son or daughter” shall be deleted.
7. Article 58 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows>- (a) in paragraph (a) thereof, in sub-paragraph (ii), for the
words “was payable< and” there shall be substituted the words “was payable<”<
(b) in paragraph (b) thereof, for the words “bona fide.” there shall be substituted the words “bona fide< and”<
(c) immediately after paragraph (b) thereof, there shall be added the following new paragraph>
“(c) any accelerated increment.”.
8. In article 84 of the principal Act, immediately after sub-article
(2) thereof there shall be added the following new sub-article>
“(3) The Minister responsible for the elderly may, from time to time and with the concurrence of the Minister responsible for finance, make regulations for the purpose of establishing the contribution due by residents of State Financed Residential Services in terms of article 93 of this Act.”.
9. In article 93 of the principal Act, immediately after sub-article
(4) thereof, there shall be added the following new sub-article>-
“(5) Where no benefit, pension, bonus, assistance or allowance is due to a resident of a state financed residential service, and whether such benefit, pension, bonus, assistance or allowance is payable under this Act or from any other source, or where such benefit, pension, bonus, assistance or allowance is less than the amount that is due by way of a contribution, as specified in terms of sub-article (1) of this article, the Director of the Department for the Elderly and Community Services shall be empowered to enter into a contract with such resident and, or any other party, as the case may require, for any contribution that may be due to Government in accordance with the provisions of this article.”.
10. In sub-article (1) of article 130 of the principal Act, for the words “Department for the Welfare of the Elderly” there shall be substituted the words “Department for the Elderly and Community Services”.
C 787

Amendment of article 58 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 84 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 93 of the principal Act.

Amendment of article 130 of the principal Act.

C 788

Amendment of article 132 of the principal Act.

11. In sub-article (1) of article 132 of the principal Act, immediately after the words “in the Commissioner of Inland Revenue” there shall be added the words “, or in the Director of the Department for the Elderly and Community Services”.

Objects and Reasons

The object of the Bill is to implement certain administrative and other measures necessary in terms of the Social Security Act, Cap. 318, and to bring other provisions in line with the current administrative structure of the Ministry responsible for the elderly.