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Locadia Mavhudzi Midlands Correspondent
Disgruntled pensioners from various companies and local authorities say they are now pinning their hopes on the reforms being spearheaded by Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC) so that they can salvage meaningful benefits from their former employers.
IPEC has proposed amendments to the Pension and Provident Funds Act that will see decision-makers at companies that deduct but do not remit employees’ pension contributions being held accountable at law. Speaking at a recent pension trustee’s workshop in Gweru, National Railways of Zimbabwe NRZ pensioner’s representative Mr Tarirayi Chinodya said NRZ pensioners are living in poverty yet their former employer has a lot of properties that were acquired from pension savings.
“We are now living in a sorry state, the earnings we receive is far less than the value of contributions we made when we were still employed. It is disheartening to note that we contributed for over 30 years and the company managed to purchase properties which today might be rented in foreign currency yet we continue to get peanuts,” he said.
Mr Chinodya said lack of access to pension benefits has resulted in health challenges for most pensioners.
More to follow…
Online Reporter