RETIREMENT is supposed to be a time to enjoy some of the fruits of one’s labour However, for legions of the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) pensioners in Zimbabwe, retirement has metamorphosed into a time of misery and suffering — a time when the future heralds little, but the certainty of death The monthly pension payouts NSSA is paying pensioners are so paltry that most pensioners are failing to put food on their tables on a daily basis The minimum monthly pension payout for a NSSA pensioner currently stands at ZWL$230 000
A survivor’s pension is ZWL$92 000 and the invalidity pension is also pegged at ZWL$92 000 At times the elderly pensioners are given a component of their meagre pensions in United States dollars With the sharp rise in the cost of basic foodstuffs, it is a daily struggle to survive and some pensioners have now resorted to operating backyard businesses like tuckshops, barbershops and shoe repair shops, while others have turned to street vending to supplement their paltry pension payouts “We are receiving pathetic pension payouts because some NSSA administrators and politicians are embezzling our pensions
NSSA is paying us (widows) a monthly pension of ZWL$ 92 000 On the black market, this translates to only US$9,20.This amount is only enough to buy a 10kg bag of mealie-meal and a 2kg packet of sugar I am failing to fend for my family and l have now turned to selling vegetables and airtime in the streets to survive,” said Gogo Eunice Nduna, a 78-year-old NSSA beneficiary, who lives in Old Lobengula, Bulawayo NSSA, being a corporate body tasked by the government to provide social security, is duty-bound to ensure that citizens are well looked after when they retire
However, the sad irony is that the monthly remittances the organisation is paying the elderly retirees cannot sustain the life of a single beneficiary After spending their youthful years rendering the nation with much-needed service, thousands of elderly NSSA pensioners in the country today find themselves marooned on a tiny island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material and economic prosperity Former Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare minister Sekai Nzenza once said government was instituting a proper governance structure at NSSA to improve the welfare of pensioners “Pensioners are complaining that what they are receiving, compared to the cost of living, is too low
We realise the urgency of the matter and we need to review the pensions upwards,” Nzenza said during her tenure in 2019 Early last year, former Public Service minister Paul Mavhima also promised that government would “review pension payouts in line with the movement of the exchange rate so as to preserve pay value” Sadly, however, this has remained mere rhetoric as NSSA pensioners continue to battle for survival in Zimbabwe’s depressed economic environment NSSA administrators postulate that the payouts paid to pensioners are based on actuarial evaluation, and are the best that the national authority can afford to pay the elderly men and women
As one analyst once pointed out: “This is a blatant falsehood being peddled by hoity toity NSSA administrators to give a veil of justification and legitimacy to the payment of paltry pensions to pensioners.”
Source: The Standard Zimbabwe
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Source: Thestandard
