Protection of Businesses Act, 1978
R 385
Defence Act, 2002 (Act No. 42 of 2002)Chapter 11 : Exemptions from, and Deferment of, Training and Service68. Powers and duties of board |
| 1) | A board must carry out such investigations as may be necessary in connection with any application and representations. |
| 2) | A board may sit at any place that is under the control of the Defence Force, for purposes of hearing evidence or for deliberating. |
| 3) |
| a) | For purposes of ascertaining any matter relating to the subject of an investigation, a board has the power to summon witnesses, to cause an oath or affirmation to be administered to them, to examine them, and to call for the production of books, documents and objects. |
| b) | A summons for the attendance of a witness or for the production of any book, document or object before a board must be signed and issued by the Chairperson of the board in the prescribed form and must be served in the same manner as a summons for the attendance of a witness at a civil trial in a magistrates' court. |
| c) | If required to do so by the Chairperson of the board a witness must, before giving evidence, take an oath or make an affirmation administered by the Chairperson of the board or such official of the board as the Chairperson may designate. |
| d) | Any person who has been summoned to attend any sitting of a board as a witness or who has given evidence before a board is entitled to claim expenses incurred from public funds in accordance with the tariff applicable to a witness in a civil trial in a magistrates' court. |
| e) | In connection with the giving of any evidence or the production of any book or document before a board, the law relating to privilege as applicable to a witness giving evidence or summoned to produce a book or a document in a court, applies. |
| 4) | A board may, with due regard to the evidence adduced before it— |
| a) | grant the application on any justifiable ground, including that it should be granted- |
| i) | in order to prevent the interruption of the course of full-time educational studies of the person concerned; |
| ii) | by reason of the nature and extent of such person's domestic obligations or, in the case of a member of the Reserve Force, any circumstance connected with any trade, profession or business in which he or she is engaged; |
| iii) | on the grounds that such person is being compulsorily detained in any institution due to his or her having been sentenced to imprisonment or his or her incapacity to function effectively in society; |
| iv) | on the grounds that undue hardship pertaining to the personal circumstances of the member would otherwise be caused; |
| v) | on the grounds that it is in the public interest that the application be granted; or |
| vi) | on the grounds that the person concerned is a conscientious objector; |
| b) | grant the application under such conditions as it may deem fit; |
| c) | grant the whole or part of the application subject to such modifications as it may deem necessary; or |
| d) | refuse the application. |
| 5) | A board must give reasons for its decision. |
| 6) | No deferment may be granted which has the effect of forcing the applicant to commence service or training after reaching the age of 50 years. |
