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Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
GOVERNMENT has directed that a seat be reserved for pensioners in the National Social Security Authority (Nssa) board.

The pensioners’ representative will serve as an ex-officio member without voting rights. Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Professor Paul Mavima, revealed this in Bulawayo last Friday during a Nssa stakeholders meeting.

He said reserving a pensioners’ seat in the Nssa board was aimed at keeping them informed of current affairs and decisions by the authority.

“I am giving the pensioners a single position in the board, which for now, because it’s not in the Act, will be ex-officio, which means they sit in all the meetings but they don’t have voting rights,” he said.

“They get all the information of the discussions that take place. They will have an opportunity to make suggestions to contribute based on representation from you (pensioners).”

Prof Mavima said once decisions are made by the Nssa board, their representative on the board becomes the conduit of relaying the resolutions to them.

Government is working on appointing a new Nssa board in the next few weeks and Prof Mavima advised the pensioners in each of the authority’s six regions to expedite nomination of prospective candidates to represent them in the board.

“I understand there are six regions, and if we can have nomination, at least one nomination from each region. I will look at the CVs. I want to come up with someone who will be very strong in representing you in the meetings and I will pick from those six,” he said.

Earlier in his speech, among other issues, Nssa pensioners Forum Bulawayo Chapter chairman, Mr Winos Dube appealed to the Government to negotiate with banks for a waiver of bank charges on their pension payouts.

He said because of high bank charges compared to meagre earnings pensioners should be exempt from such charges. Nssa pensioners are paid about $2 100 per month.

“We are appealing to banks to waive charges for the pensioners,” said Mr Dube.

He said it was regrettable also that the pensioners’ widows and widowers were receiving 40 percent of the pensioners existing payouts, which was paltry.

“We are saying the 40 percent, which is given to the widows or widowers does not help them at all.

“Let me just be factual, a pensioner is getting RTGS$2 100, now he or she passes on, the widow or widower remains with the children and you are subjected to RTGS$840.

“Are we really expecting this family left behind to survive?” — @okazunga.