The Sunday News
Tinomuda Chakanyuka, Senior Reporter
THE Government is working on ensuring that pensioners start receiving revised monthly pension payouts from the National Social Security Authority (Nssa) by the end of September this year, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Initially the Government had promised to increase the pensions by end of March. Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Cde Prisca Mupfumira told Sunday News that the Government was carrying out an actuarial valuation to determine how much pensioners would receive.
“Nssa pension payouts should be increased. Right now we are in the process of conducting what we call an actuarial valuation to see how much exactly we should pay pensioners. We are looking forward to have increased the payout by the end of September this year” she said.
The Government directed Nssa to increase pension payouts to $100 and gradually raise the figure to $150 by the end of the year. Presently Nssa is paying out $60 per month, which pensioners feel is inadequate. Nssa has started migrating pensioners to mobile payment platforms as it seeks to improve convenience, reducing costs and leveraging technology. Cde Mupfumira said the Government was committed to improving the welfare of pensioners and would continue looking for more ways to cater for their well-being.
She said, to that end, Nssa had, from last month, started providing a $500 funeral enhancement benefit to pensioners as part of measures to deliver value to those who would have left work. The funeral enhancement benefit will be given in addition to the existing funeral grant of $300, making a total of $800 funeral assistance payout.
“Death is a reality and we recognise that some families struggle to accord decent burials to their loved ones when they pass on.
So as Nssa we said starting April, we will provide funeral assistance to a member, contributor or pensioner to the value of $500 for those who have their own funeral policy. For those who don’t have, Nssa will provide a decent coffin, transport and all other things necessary for a decent burial. This has already started,” she said.
In a bid to turnaround its fortunes Nssa has embarked on a number of structural changes to get a return on investment.
The processes that were embarked on for the past 20 months appear to have yielded results as the authority’s ship has steadied in recent times.
