LATEST: NSSA reports 90% property occupation rate

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 occupants on most of its building, NSSA has said the opposite was true.

Deputy director for marketing and communications, Mr Tendai Mutseyekwa, said instead the current occupation 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 imperative.

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 market 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 occupants’ 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 organization was taking corrective measures in some outlying areas across the country.

There have been concerns that occupants’ rate at the NSSA business complex in Gwanda, for instance, has been falling with businesses arguing that the organization’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 occupants’ rates at the hotel had fallen to around 20 percent in the years under review and many investors have tried a number of projects at the facility but the initiatives remain a pipe dream. – @tupeyo