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Daily Maverick writes that South Africa’s retirement age has not been changed. Some online articles have claimed that sweeping pension reforms are being implemented – most notably a uniform retirement age of 65 for all citizens regardless of gender or employment sector, and effective from 30 May 2025.
This gained traction through WhatsApp forwards and Facebook reposts, and further asserted that the government has confirmed new phased retirement options and that older workers would be able to draw partial pensions while continuing part-time employment. None of this is supported by any gazetted legislation, parliamentary record or regulatory announcement. National Treasury dismissed the claims, saying: “There is no standard retirement age that is set by government in South Africa. Employees in formal employment… have a retirement age that is determined by the employer and the relevant retirement fund, which is not prescribed by government.” In the private sector, retirement age is defined by employment contracts or pension fund rules. In the absence of such terms, section 187(2)(b) of the Labour Relations Act provides that dismissing someone for age is only legally fair if they’ve reached the “normal or agreed retirement age” for their role. In the public sector, the governing legislation is the Public Service Act of 1994, which sets the normal retirement age at 60 and allows early retirement from 55. These provisions remain unchanged. Labour lawyer Avi Niselow commented: “If there’s no agreed age in the contract or fund policy, forcing someone out at 65 could amount to automatically unfair dismissal.”
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Yeshiel Panchia at Daily Maverick
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page