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Happymore Chayira
The National Social Security Authority (NSSA) is working on closing the social protection gaps for formal and informal employees by ensuring that all its services are accessible in both sectors.
Speaking on the online launch of the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC)/NSSA Journalists Mentorship Programme (JMP) 2024 earlier this month, NSSA acting general manager Dr Charles Shava hinted that NSSA has already initiated steps towards establishing a pension cover scheme for the informal sector.
“We have realised that upwards of 80 percent of our workers have moved into the informal sector and all those people that lose their jobs go to the informal sector,” he said.
Dr Shava said NSSA has already instituted a survey for the initial assessment of the proposed scheme through ZimStats.
“We are at the survey stage where ZimStats is doing a survey on the needs assessment analysis and thereafter NSSA will sit down and come up with a model that this particular informal scheme is going to take,” he said.
“Certainly the issue of digital technology is also critical in establishing this kind of a scheme and our ICT department is very much involved.”
Dr Shava was responding to questions from journalists who wanted an update on the state of informal sector pension cover schemes in light of increasing calls to ensure that employees in the sector are considered for social security.
This was also a follow-up to the Micro-Pensions Framework launched in 2023 by (IPEC), which is the regulatory body for insurance and pensions in the country.
NSSA only provides pension schemes and cover to formal sector employees where there is a contract of employment between the employer and the employee.
This is because pension and insurance schemes in Zimbabwe are contribution-based during one’s time of employment and the formal sector presents fewer challenges to contributions collection.
NSSA, however, is looking to leverage on digital technologies to facilitate the collection of contributions from the informal sector and this could be a potential game changer.
NSSA was created by an Act of Parliament, the National Social Security Act (Chapter 17:04) of 1989.
The Act empowers the Minister of Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare to establish social security schemes for the provision of benefits to all employees.
NSSA is mandated to administer every scheme and fund that is established in terms of this Act.
At the moment, NSSA is administering two pension schemes namely the Pension and Other Benefits Scheme and the Accident Prevention and Workers Compensation Scheme.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter