By Staff Writer
OPPOSITION leader Nelson Chamisa has fired salvo at the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) for paying US$30 monthly pensions.
NSSA is the statutory organisation tasked by law to oversee and manage social security in Zimbabwe. It operates two schemes to which employers contribute and these include the Workers Compensation and Insurance Fund (WCIF) s funded entirely by employers for the purpose of providing benefits to employees and/or their beneficiaries in the event of a workplace injury or death.
The second one is the National Pension Scheme which is funded equally by both employers and employees which provides benefits to employees and/or their beneficiaries in the event of retirement, invalidity or death.
However, over the past years, the fund has faced allegations of being squandered by politicians and highly connected individuals at the expense of the contributors.
Taking a swipe at the authority this week Chamisa condemned the conduct of shortchanging the direct contributors.
The latest condemnation adds to numerous voices over the decades which have castigated the authority for shortchanging workers despite decades of hard work and meaningful contributions to the fund.
“Pensioners are retiring unto poverty. I was recently talking to a retired citizen about his pension. After working for more than 40 years, and several of those years as a headmaster, his lump sum pension payment is not enough to buy a Honda Fit from Victor. I’m told this is the story for most of our civil servants and workers in general. Just imagine that pensioners receive $30 per month from NSSA. After bank charges the payout is a paltry as $22,” he said.
He described the developments as” an atrocity- pure savagery”.
He said this amount is hardly enough to pay for a month’s supply of diabetes or BP meds.
“And these are chronic conditions most senior citizens are living with. This is the tragedy of broken politics and the current economic collapse. This, we must and will fix urgently. Pensioners must not be paupers!! Our workers must have their dignity,” he said.
