By Faith Mudaka
I am one of those Zimbabweans who are concerned about the future and how the quality of my life will be when I reach retirement age. As I read an article by Eddie Cross titled, “Rethinking Zimbabwe’s public pension scheme” published by The Standard on June 13, 2021, it echoed the same thoughts I have had about the pension, insurance, funeral policies in this country for decades.
Today I write as a common man voicing not only my cry, but many employed folks will understand what I am talking about.
Our local funeral policies, insurance, etc never mature, there is never rebate in everything that we contribute towards, our fathers are working today past 65, pushing bicycles, guarding places and at times cleaning institutions not because they were not able to plan, but because the same “economy story” is the excuse that they have heard all their lives.
Whether we contributed our money in United States dollars or in bond notes, the difference is the same.
Today we find ourselves at zero again and our future welfare is at stake.
Zimbabwean companies never discount no matter how long you contribute and life just continues.
If you do not believe me look at the funeral policies, how long you have to contributed, there are no rebates.
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The minute you hit hard times, all the years that you have been contributing are forgotten fast.
The organisations are so out of touch with the people they are meant to serve. Forgive my deviating.
After reading the article by Cross about rethinking pension, hope stirred in me and I thought what a great idea, a good concept to adopt and bring hope to the common man.
But as I read the article my heart began to sink as I thought of the involvement of National Employment Councils (NECs) and the National Social Security Authority (NSSA).
I thought, can anything good come from this affiliation?
Can the common person really trust this union with his or her future, be assured that when retirement comes they will beat poverty?
At times I sit and think that some of these NECs are created just to offer employment to some of our fellow Zimbabweans.
Looking at where our country is now, unemployment levels and Covid-19 (though I feel we were there before Covid-19).
There is no NEC that would want to oppose the employer.
NECs survive when the industry is functional and their interest is to ensure that the businesses continue running and they continue receiving contributions.
It is these contributions (employer and employee) that keep them in existence.
Do you think one has the ability to bite the hand that feeds them?
Can the NECs exist without the employer and the employee?
Can they survive without the employer who created the work environment just to mention a few?
Do the NECs care about the casualisation of labour in their sectors?
Employees signing weekly contracts?
No leave, low wages in their sectors and how to alleviate the status of the common man?
Wages take so long to be reviewed and salary surveys results and adjustments are always implemented late. For example, a salary survey is done 2018 July and implementation can be 2020 October, at that time the environment has changed significantly.
It is so true we contribute to NSSA for so long in different currencies, yet our pay-outs are in local bond dollar, which amounts to so little that the common man at retirement is brought to poverty.
One wishes there was fairness in the world that the working man, who is a highly taxed individual in this country, can finally rest in his pension years.
I agree the NSSA scheme seems like another statutory tax that the employee is not really certain will assist on that very day.
Maybe that explains why most employees, when they move from one organisation to another, never keep trail of their NSSA contributions, their work history.
I have met some, who do not even know their NSSA numbers.
I guess they will look for it when they reach their retirement age.
So can we trust a union of these two institutions with the welfare of our people, the ordinary working man?
Can we relax and say if these two entities work together the retirement life of an average employee will be better?
We really have no choice, one may say, once they decide to amalgamate or work together.
l think for the employee to embrace this union and this model to work, we need to see these organisations stand up for what they claim to represent.
Positive actions and strategies should be put in place and show they mean what they say through a leadership that has the people in mind .
It can be a breath of fresh air to see our elders not having to queue for their pension or having to go to their former employment organisations to seek proof of employment for work done long back when they still had the strength.
This could only be possible if only these organisations can put up systems now which can revive the faith of people in them.
Them working together may be a good thing, but I wonder how feasible that can be.
But it is worth trying and hoping for the best.
If action is taken now I am sure the next generation of pensioners might be better than the current ones.
Surely there is a need to rethink our pension.
- Faith Mudaka is a human resources practitioner.
These weekly articles are coordinated by Lovemore Kadenge, independent consultant, past president of the Zimbabwe Economics Society and past president of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in Zimbabwe. Email: [email protected]. Mobile No. +263 772 382 852
