... director pushes for better opportunities for pensioners

THE director of an organisation that champions the rights of persons with disabilities says efforts must be made to address the plight of pensioners with disabilities, including opening opportunities for them in financial services.

Samantha Sibanda, director at Signs of Hope Trust, said engagements were underway with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to find ways of absorbing people with disabilities into the financial services sector.

“The 2013 national survey on living conditions among persons with disabilities in Zimbabwe found that disabled individuals face limited opportunities for education, employment, and social support, leading to…old age without pension or work-related pay-outs,” Sibanda said during a recent interface with journalists.

“The vending work or petty trades that they may be involved in cannot sustain them to a point of having savings. The RBZ has launched the Financial Inclusion Strategy 2 and established thematic working groups to include older persons in formal financial services.

“Our organisation is part of the working group on financial inclusion of people with disabilities, emphasising the need to provide income opportunities for these individuals in their old age," she added.

Sibanda spoke as the United Nations said it was currently drafting a treaty that seeks to address the plight of elderly people.

According to the National Social Security Authority (Nssa), significant efforts to help pensioners and beneficiaries of its schemes have been achieved by expanding coverage to workers in the informal sector.

Nssa is currently developing a social security scheme for these workers, who constitute 87% of the labour force.

Nssa acting general manager Charles Shava underscored the importance of addressing the challenges faced by pensioners.

“Nssa is determined to alleviate the plight of pensioners and beneficiaries and hence continuous measures are implemented and these include periodic US dollar pay outs and regular upward review of ZWL pay outs to track the official bank rate,” he said.

“This is in addition to a raft of non-monetary benefits such as zero bank charges with selected banks and discounted groceries."

Over the years, the financial services sector has been hard-hit by economic turbulences. As a result of the economic problems, most pensions have been eroded with pensioners getting amounts, which are not enough for them to make a living. the harsh macro-economic environment. If they decide to increase payouts, they are likely to face payment challenges,” an industry expert said.

The bulk of Nssa’s revenue comes from contributions and investment income, an 82:12 split.

Shava said investment income had improved from 4% to the current 12% over the past two years.

Emmanuel Fundira, chairperson of the Nssa board, said the US$60 pay out will place the fund in line with International Labour Organisation (ILO) minimums.

“We have a target of hitting the minimum requirement, which is globally acceptable by ILO standards, which is US$60 per month,” he told the Independent.

“It translates to US$2 per day. Given inflation in US dollars, we aim to exceed that target by the end of December.”