‘Social protection is our goal’

TZ: What is Monica Mutsvangwa bringing to the ministry?                                                               MM: This ministry has been there for all this time. There is a minister and the directorate who are already running the ministry. I am joining to complement what is going on. I have already seen my minister — we have always had a good relationship and we will definitely be working together to fulfill the mandate that the ministry has been given.
TZ: Recent years have seen the collapse of social safety nets, resulting in the suffering of people. What should Government do to cushion the populace?
MM: Social protection is very important and we must work hard to meet the Millennium Development Goals. We want to work with different ministries and partners so that we improve the quality of lives of our people. Very soon I will be out there to meet the institutions that we work with and NSSA (National Social Security Authority) is one of them. When it comes to NSSA what I am looking at as the Deputy Minister is that we need to be careful that we do not use present earnings of workers, which are their future pensions.
I am thinking that we must always have a funded payment scheme and we must also be very careful and transparent about the way we invest this money. Surely, if we misinvest this money what this means is that the workers’ pensions bill will be under funded and they will be destitute on retirement.
TZ: What is your comment on a situation in which people travel long distances to collect very little from NSSA?
MM: We need to come up with something, which is reasonable. What we mean by taking money from the worker is as they retire, their future is well secured.
Surely, one needs to look at how much money he or she needs to survive and this is important. This is why we are saying that the importance of those funds is the investment — we need to be careful and transparent in investing those funds.
TZ: Some NGOs have been accused of political meddling. What should be the role of these organisations? How are you going to ensure that they stick to their mandate?
MM: The role of these NGOs is to complement not to take over the role of the Government. We definitely need to be very clear about who is registering as NGOs. We have had very good NGOs — the traditional ones — that have been working with the Government but of late there have been a lot of NGOs mushrooming in Zimbabwe.
We hope the established ones cannot depart from their well-meaning roles and take the partisan or the regime change agenda. We hope no one comes into Zimbabwe to start the foreign regime change.
We also feel the ministry should give a judicious analysis of their activities to make sure that if it is food they are distributing it is not done on partisan grounds, but to the people of Zimbabwe because they are there to help the Government which is in place to make sure that there is food in the villages, there is water especially when there is drought.
TZ: The country has been facing successive droughts and this year is no exception as almost half of the crop failed. What is being done to ensure relief?
MM: I have just returned from Burundi, which is close to the Equator and where rains used to come regularly all the time. I was surprised when I got there, and realised that they are also experiencing climate change. I know the President has come up with the support systems where seed and fertilisers have been distributed to the people, but unfortunately as much as people have worked, if the rains don’t come the drought will always be there.
TZ: Do you think Zimbabwe can eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, as envisaged in the MDGs?
MM: We need to eradicate hunger in Zimbabwe not even to alleviate it. We can eradicate poverty and hunger — and why do I think so? Zimbabwe is endowed with so many natural resources and we are just a population of 14 million people and there is no reason why if those resources are used transparently and to the benefit of the people of Zimbabwe, we can’t be able to eradicate poverty.
God loved us so much, I’m told we have 25 percent of the world’s diamonds, we are in the top 10 in gold production, top four in platinum . . . all these are industries which will make our people rich and our standards of living good. We don’t need typhoid in this country, the infrastructure should be improved, there should be potable water in homes even in rural areas.
If all of the country would have electricity, we do have the natural resources. God gave us to enjoy. One hopes the Western world removes the sanctions that they have imposed on the people of Zimbabwe.
If companies like Mbada and Marange Resources who are mining diamonds in Marange are put on sanctions it means the monies cannot move transparently and the accountability might become a problem because for some reason — one way or the other — the diamonds have to be sold. If they are on sanctions, it means that the monies that are due to Mbada and are moving to Mbada from other companies can be garnished. So the economy will not move. We want a situation in which sanctions are removed from Zimbabwe and all the natural resources are sold transparently and accountability is there so that they all trickle down to the Treasury so that our people can live better.
TZ: Marginalised people like the elderly and the disabled have long cried for recognition, how can these groups finally be granted the space they deserve?
MM: That is an issue that touches my heart. I am a board member for over seven years now of Help Age Zimbabwe. I’m glad that the (Elderly Persons) Bill is now going through Parliament. I think it is important for Zimbabweans to realise that growing up is a process — nobody can avoid it.
Sometimes people don’t want to talk about the elderly so much and the issues and challenges which affect the elderly, but we have to know that all of us will one day grow old and it is important that we have a safety net that the last days are not miserable.
TZ: How about the disabled?
MM: Again that is an issue of a lot of interest to me and I’m glad that the people of Zimbabwe have come to understand that there should be no discrimination in whatever we do. If it is resources they have to be shared equally and even in Parliament, politically, socially and economically we have to make sure that we have the disabled represented at all levels.
TZ: Do you see that happening any time soon?
MM: It has to happen. We fought for Independence and we fought for democracy and for people to enjoy democracy, we all have to work towards it. And it’s not just about the Government, it is about everybody —  the private sector, private companies and individuals. We all have to do something.
Everybody should ask themselves a question “what is it that I am doing to make sure that my life gets better, not just what the Government is doing for me?” The Government is there to facilitate . . . in this case we have a Government  that has put in place the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act to make sure that the indigenous people of this country have the opportunity to get up and go.
TZ: What do you think is the cause of the present inertia as marginalised people have been calling for representation but with very limited success?
MM: We are coming from a very difficult time. Before Independence the black people of this country were not recognised, talk about the disabled and even the women. They were double oppressed before Independence but all this has changed and a lot of achievements have been made but a lot more needs to be done.
You are so right, I’m also the co-vice chair of Copac and I took an interest during the outreach to hear what the people were saying about the elderly and the disabled and about the women and I must tell you the people of Zimbabwe are very well versed on what is in the Bill of Rights, that is for everybody. People living with disability need even much more, the people who fought for this country need to be looked after.
TZ: But your office here cannot be said to be so disability-friendly?
MM: I know there is quite a number of offices that have to be dealt with, a lot of places which are not user friendly for people living with disabilities and I think Zimbabwe is moving towards that. The people are coming up with a Constitution of our own and the rights of people living with disability will be in that Constitution and it will be a right for people living with disabilities to have access to these buildings without difficulties.
TZ You have been an advocate of indigenisation and have written about the beneficiation of our diamonds. How can these improve the livelihoods of the people?
MM: Let me tell you one thing: Surat in India has millions of people employed in the diamond cutting industry — cutting and polishing Zimbabwean diamonds. What we are saying is that we are actually exporting those jobs and yet we have high unemployment in this country. Why don’t we set up our diamond cutting and polishing industry in Zimbabwe so that our people will be employed?
It is not only about diamonds. Talk about platinum — the other time I was at Ngezi — we need a (platinum) refinery in this country and this will create employment and when you begin to add value to a mineral you get more from it.
TZ: What is your assessment of the labour situation in Zimbabwe today?
MM: Our labour laws need to be concurrent with world standards. We also need to reinvest in the capital stock of the country. We need also to introduce training. It’s just not enough to be educated but it’s important to be skilled.
There are many people that have been churned out from schools and university but we need money to invest in these people.
We need these people to be skilled. We also need laws that attract investment. You see, it is not just about the employee but also the employer. We need a proper balance between the two.