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Nqobile Tshili, [email protected]

ABOUT 48 percent of registered companies in Zimbabwe are not remitting National Social Security Authority (Nssa) contributions as required by law, which affects the value of earnings and services given to retired employees.

This emerged during a Social Security Bench-marking Workshop between Zimbabwe and Zambia held in Bulawayo on Monday. Zambia’s social protection service team is on a five-day learning visit to Zimbabwe to strengthen its models for the benefit of its members.

Nssa director of social services, Mr Shepherd Muperi, gave a comprehensive overview of the operations of the country’s social protection agency and highlighted some of the successes and challenges Zimbabwe is facing in the provision of social security cover.

In an interview on the side-lines of the engagements, Mr Muperi said all citizens were entitled to social protection but some corporates were not fulfilling their obligations.

“Not all companies are paying their contributions to Nssa. The compliance rate is low. Out of all the companies we have in our books, only 52 percent of those are paying their contributions to Nssa,” he said.

“That means 48 percent are not paying and these are companies that need to be followed up so that we can raise the compliance rate to the level we want.”

Mr Muperi said failure to pay contributions has far-reaching consequences in the provision of efficient social protection cover, as Nssa is compelled to cover the worker even when their employer would have failed to do so, which stretches available resources.

“If the worker gets injured and the company has no premiums, the law says we must protect the worker. The law compels Nssa to compensate the employee and cater for all medical expenses. The law says you must chase after the employers and get our premiums,” he added.

“In short that is tantamount to paying unfunded benefits because this is insurance. It has the challenge of spreading a small cake to a bigger number, including those who have not even contributed. It impacts on the benefit of those who have contributed.”

Mr Muperi said the sustainability of the scheme becomes seriously compromised in the process, noting that it was worrying that over 60 percent of the country’s workforce has no social protection cover.

“In the latest Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) Labour Force results, we have close to a 4,5 million labour force and just over 3 million are in employment. But out of that number Nssa covers 1,3 million, which means these are in the formal sector,” he said.

“That leaves about 61 percent who are economically active or gainfully employed but are not covered by social security.”

Mr Muperi said while social protection is a human right, having a large number of citizens with no social protection can become a burden to the State when they are no longer economically active.

“They remain vulnerable to life risks like healthcare coverage or can die and leave dependents. They also can fall ill and become victims of invalidity and there will be no protection for them to replace income,” he said.

“That is the risk that they are facing and at the end of the day, it becomes the burden of the Government, which will have to provide for them.

“The impact of people not covered is that it exposes them to poverty. Imagine the lack of social protection cover, imagine meeting healthcare cost cover out of pocket; it is expensive and can easily impoverish you.”

Mr Muperi said Nssa is spearheading a programme to introduce social protection cover for players in the informal sector.

NSSA Hosts Zambia at a benchmarking meeting 

He said the social protection scheme for the informal sector is now at report writing stage and will thereafter be presented to members of the public.

In his opening remarks, Nssa acting general manager, Dr Charles Shava, said Zimbabwe and Zambia share a lot in common and he hoped that the benchmarking exercise would deliver desired results.

“In this moment of exchange and learning, I am confident that by the end of this visit, we will have identified new pathways to bolster our systems and deepen our co-operation,” he said.

NSSA Hosts Zambia at a benchmarking meeting

“Our shared history reminds us that, together, we are stronger. As we continue to forge ahead, let us remain committed to the ideals of mutual growth, collaborationand innovation that have brought us here today,” said Dr Shava.

The Zambian social security team will also visit Nssa’s rehabilitation centre next to Mpilo Central Hospital and engage with beneficiaries. — @nqotshili