The Sunday Mail
Tawanda Musarurwa
PENSIONERS will now have a direct say on matters that directly affect them, after Government appointed a pensioner representative into the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) board.
The appointee is Mrs Marjorie Chinyemba, who is the chairperson of the NSSA Pensioners Association (Harare Chapter).
On the NSSA board she will deputise chairman, Mr Percy Toriro.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Professor Paul Mavima, said Government had to bend over backwards to implement the appointment as this is not a statutory requirement and the law does not allow ex-officio appointments to the board.
To effect the appointment, Government had to relinquish one of its seats on the board.
“We had wanted to have two representatives of pensioners on the board.
“We had hoped that we could appoint them as ex-officio members of the board.
“But looking through the law we realised that it was not possible to appoint pensioner representatives as ex-officio members.
“So, I deliberately left out one of my own slots from the Government side in order to pick a representative from the pensioners. And we did so in style.
“We picked a lady because we wanted gender balance, and we then said we want her to be the vice chair of the board. So, it was a crowning moment for our pensioners.”
Professor Mavima was speaking to The Sunday Mail on the side lines of the official opening of the NSSA Guest House and Staff Awards Ceremony in Borrowdale on Friday.
Said Mrs Chinyemba on her appointment:
“I’m very happy about this appointment because now there is better flow of information between NSSA, the board and ourselves (the pensioners). Previously it was not like that, now the engagement is very good,” she said.
“And we are hoping that as we continue to engage the welfare of the pensioner will continue to be improved.”
Pensioners have been increasingly agitating for greater say around how their pensions are determined as macro-economic issues have eroded the value of their benefits.
Over the past year, the authority has been working to improve pensioners’ welfare with the key goal of increasing the minimum pension pay-out to the equivalent of US$60 by the end of this year, from the equivalent of around US$30 at the start of the year.
Apart from periodic reviews of benefits pay-outs, NSSA has rolled out various non-monetary benefits in 2021.
These include, among others, discounted groceries at selected SPAR outlets, a revolving fund for income generating projects disbursed through the National Building Society (NBS) and the People’s Own Savings Bank (POSB), medical assistance through the NSSA mobile clinic, as well as the establishment of pensioner and staff clinics in its six regions. Negotiations with banks for the waiver of bank charges for NSSA pensioners are also at an advanced stage.
