The Sunday Mail
The Local Authorities Pension Fund (LAPF) is living on the edge owing to non-remittance of dues, putting the livelihoods of thousands of pensioners on the line.
According to LAPF chief executive officer Mr Charles Mandizvidza, the organisation has arrears in the region of US$100 million because local authorities — especially the Harare City Council — have been defaulting.
“Local authorities are saying there is no money and currently we are owed around US$100 million with Harare council owing a huge amount,” said Mr Mandizvidza.
This has seen LAPF failing to pay many pensioners their monthly dues.
As a result, LAPF is facing litigation.
“We have received a number of lawsuits from our members as they demand their dues, but this has been adding pressure on us as they continuously drag us to the courts and we do not have money.
“There is a huge backlog in payments of monthly pensions, and the situation is likely to worsen as local authorities have indicated that they do not have money,” he said.
“Like I said earlier we are owed millions of dollars in unremitted pension fund contributions and the Harare City council is the biggest defaulter.
“They have admitted their arrears and made several payment plans with us. I actually have piles of files with several payment plans which have not been honoured.”
However, investigations by The Sunday Mail Extra indicate the fund could also be to blame as some pensioners access their benefits without any hassles while others are given the run-around.
Some pensioners who retired between 2012 and 2013 are yet to get any payments while others who left work two months ago have already received lump sums.
Mr Mandizvidza said the discrepancy was a result of the LAPF prioritising the cases of pensioners in dire need, such as those with serious medical conditions.
“Members are ever complaining that some people are given money when the organisation says that it does not have any . . . resources are in short supply and we have tended to prioritise (who should be paid first).
“Those with medical cases are given priority as are those with school fees arrears.”
He would not, however, explain in detail how the seriousness of cases was determined.
Harare City Council Town Clerk’s Forum chair Mr Gorge Makunde threw the blame back at defaulting ratepayers, saying non-payment of bills made it difficult for the municipality to remit pension dues.
“Every council is crying over the equation of balancing service delivery and the low revenue collected from residents. Residents have adopted a culture of not paying bills resulting in councils collecting revenues below 45 percent every month.
“The services that councils are supposed to render to the public have been affected because they are broke.
“The policy is that services are rendered in advance to the residents then they must pay every month-end, but payments have not been coming,” said Mr Makunde.
Harare spokesperson Mr Leslie Gwindi added: “Harare City Council is owed US$253 888 745,10 with the high-density suburbs accounting for US$45 760 887 53 while low-density areas constituted US$208 127 857,57.
“The amounts include arrears owed by commercial enterprises resident in the respective suburbs or billing districts.
“Council is employing water disconnections as a method of enforcing payment. In council rented accommodation debtors would be locked out.
“We scrapped US$48 million for the residents last year, but the debt has ballooned to US$27 million,” said Mr Gwindi.
Chegutu City Treasurer Mr Isaac Mhaka said revenue collections were low, making it difficult to sustain operations.
“We are owed US$5,2 million as of May 31. We are struggling to meet the demands of the growing population. We have revenue collections of around US$200 000 when we expect around US$500 000 every month . . . which is quite straining the municipality.”
