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Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
THE National Social Security Authority (NSSA) says its property portfolio is performing well despite the mixed business fortunes.

Although some businesses have claimed the State-entity was charging exorbitant rentals for its properties resulting in perceived drop in the occupancy on most of its properties, NSSA has said the opposite was true.

Deputy director for marketing and communications, Mr Tendai Mutseyekwa, said the current occupancy rate at their properties was hovering around 90 percent.

He explained that their rentals were pegged after surveys on the competitiveness of the market and consideration of the business imperatives.

Mr Mutseyekwa was speaking at the opening of the journalism mentorship programme, which was jointly hosted by NSSA and the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC).

“On the contrary, we have been charging rentals which were below markets levels and corrective measures are being done to recover the monies,” he said.

“In fact, our properties portfolio is doing well and at the moment the occupancy rate stands between 85 percent and 90 percent. The 10 to 15 percent deficit is reasonable if we look at the current state of the property portfolio in the country.

“Naturally, when we make investments, we expect to get the value for the investment and hence due diligence must be done in coming up with rental fees.”

Mr Mutseyekwa said although all was well in their properties section, the organisation was taking corrective measures in some outlying areas across the country.

There have been concerns that the occupancy rate at the NSSA business complex in Gwanda, for instance, has been falling with businesses arguing that the organisation’s rentals were not sustainable.

In 2016, the Rainbow Tourism Group pulled out of the NSSA hotel in Beitbridge after making a loss of $2 million in three years.

In addition, the occupancy rate at the hotel had fallen to around 20 percent and many investors have tried a number of projects at the facility but the initiatives failed. — @tupeyo