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Friendly Societies Act, 1956 (Act No. 25 of 1956)

Chapter I : Administration and Application of Act and Interpretation of Terms

1. Definitions

 

(1) In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise —

 

"Authority"

means the Financial Sector Conduct Authority established by section 56 of the Financial Sector Regulation Act;

[Definition inserted by section 290, item 1(a) of Schedule 4, of Notice No. 853 of 2017 - effective 1 April 2018 (paragraph (h) of Notice 169 of 2018)]

 

"actuary"

means any Fellow of an institute, faculty, society or chapter of actuaries approved by the Minister;

 

"assets”

in relation to a friendly society, means the assets of that society as they would be reflected in any statement of its assets prepared in accordance with the requirements set out in section twenty-five;

 

"conduct standard"

has the same meaning ascribed to it in terms of section 1(1) of the Financial Sector Regulation Act;

[Definition inserted by section 290, item 1(b) of Schedule 4, of Notice No. 853 of 2017 - effective 1 April 2018 (paragraph (h) of Notice 169 of 2018)]

 

"court"

means a provincial or local division of the Supreme Court of South Africa;

[Definition substituted by section 31 of Act No. 104 of 1993]

 

"Financial Sector Regulation Act"

means the Financial Sector Regulation Act, 2017;

[Definition inserted by section 290, item 1(c) of Schedule 4, of Notice No. 853 of 2017 - effective 1 April 2018 (paragraph (h) of Notice 169 of 2018)]

 

"financial year"

in relation to a society, means each period of twelve months ending on the thirty-first day of December, at the end of which the balance of its accounts is required to be struck in terms of its rules, or such other period as may on any particular occasion be determined by the Authority at the request of the society;

 

"friendly society"

means —

(a) any association of persons established for any of the objects specified in section two; or
(b) any business carried on under a scheme or arrangement instituted for any of those objects,

and includes any central society referred to in section thirty-nine, whether or not it is liable to provide any benefits mentioned in section two, and any central society, association or business as aforesaid which is or may become liable for any such benefits, whether or not it continues to admit or to collect contributions from members;

 

"Gazette"
[Definition deleted by section 31 of Act No. 104 of 1993]

 

"Insurance Act"

means the Insurance Act, 1943 (Act No. 27 of 1943);

 

"joint standard"

has the same meaning ascribed to it in terms of section 1(1) of the Financial Sector Regulation Act;

[Definition inserted by section 290, item 1(d) of Schedule 4, of Notice No. 853 of 2017 - effective 1 April 2018 (paragraph (h) of Notice 169 of 2018)]

 

"liabilities"

in relation to a friendly society, means the liabilities of that society as they would be reflected in any statement of its liabilities prepared in accordance with the requirements set out in section twenty-four;

 

"market value"

in relation to any asset of a society, means the market value in the Republic or, if such value cannot be ascertained, the price which would be obtained on a sale in the Republic between a willing seller and a willing purchaser as estimated by the society and approved by the Authority, or, where the Authority does not approve of any estimate made by a society, the value estimated by the Authority;

[Definition substituted by section 31 of Act No. 104 of 1993]

 

"member"

in relation to a friendly society, means any person who contributes to the society in order to obtain any benefit referred to in section two, either for himself or for any other person mentioned in that section, and includes any association which contributes to a central society referred to in section thirty-nine;

 

"Minister"

means the Minister of Finance;

 

"officer"

in relation to a society, means any member of a committee appointed to manage the affairs of the society, or any individual so appointed, or any manager, principal officer, treasurer, clerk or other agent or employee of the society, but does not include an auditor appointed under section eleven;

 

"person"

includes any committee appointed to manage the affairs of a society;

 

"prescribed"

[Definition deleted by section 290, item 1(e) of Schedule 4, of Notice No. 853 of 2017 - effective 1 April 2018 (paragraph (h) of Notice 169 of 2018)]

 

"principal officer"

means the officer referred to in section ten;

 

"prudential standard"

has the same meaning ascribed to it in terms of section 1(1) of the Financial Sector Regulation Act;

[Definition inserted by section 290, item 1(f) of Schedule 4, of Notice No. 853 of 2017 - effective 1 April 2018 (paragraph (h) of Notice 169 of 2018)]

 

"Register"

means the Financial Sector Information Register referred to in section 256 of the Financial Sector Regulation Act;

[Definition inserted by section 290, item 1(g) of Schedule 4, of Notice No. 853 of 2017 - effective 1 April 2018 (per paragraph (h) of Notice 169 of 2018)]

 

"registered"

in relation to a society, means registered or provisionally registered under section five, and "registration" has a corresponding meaning;

 

"registered office"

means the registered office referred to in section nine;

 

"registrar"

[Definition deleted by section 290, item 1(h) of Schedule 4, of Notice No. 853 of 2017 - effective 1 April 2018 (per paragraph (h) of Notice 169 of 2018)]

 

"regulation"

means a regulation made and in force under this Act;

 

"rules"

means the rules of a society, and includes —

(a) the act, charter, deed of settlement, memorandum of association, or other document by which the society is constituted;
(b) the articles of association or other rules for the conduct of the business of the society; and
(c) the provisions relating to the benefits which may be granted by and the contributions which may become payable to the society;

 

"society"

means a friendly society;

 

"Territory"

[Definition deleted by section 31 of Act No. 104 of 1993]

 

"Union"

[Definition of “Union” deleted by section 31 of Act 104 of 1993]

 

"valuator"

means an actuary or any other person who, in the opinion of the Authority, has sufficient actuarial knowledge to perform the duties required of a valuator in terms of this Act.

 

(2) For the purpose of the application of the provisions of this Act in relation to a society which is a friendly society in terms of paragraph (b) of the definition of “friendly society” in subsection (1), any reference in this Act to a friendly society shall be construed as a reference to that society or to the person or body in control of the affairs of that society, as the circumstances may require.

 

(3) Unless the context otherwise indicates, words and expressions not defined in subsection (1) have the same meaning ascribed to them in terms of the Financial Sector Regulation Act.

[Section 1(3) inserted by section 290, item 1(i) of Schedule 4, of Notice No. 853 of 2017 - effective 1 April 2018 (per paragraph (h) of Notice 169 of 2018)]