Social security critical to human rights

 Lazarus Sauti

HUMAN rights expert, Fortune Sakupwanya said rapid population ageing in Zimbabwe requires an insistent appraisal of social security to protect older people since they are vulnerable to diseases, poverty, and generally excluded from social security schemes.

He added that informal family support for older people in the country is declining under the pressure of abject poverty, the impact of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and migration.

“Zimbabwe has traditionally focused on establishing social security policies like contributory pension systems to protect people in old age, but this approach has left up more citizens unprotected by any form of pension,” Sakupwanya said.

He added that social security – generally defined as a system of contribution-based health, pension, and unemployment protection, along with tax-financed social benefits – is critical to the promotion of human rights.

“Social security forms a critical part of comprehensive social protection strategies to tackle extreme poverty,” he said, adding that inclusive coverage of social security in Zimbabwe abides by the human rights principles of non-discrimination.

Sakupwanya also said most households in Zimbabwe are headed by older women due to HIV/AIDS and migration and these households are more vulnerable to poverty and all forms of discrimination.

“Older women are excluded from contributory social security schemes as these are mostly linked to formal employment, which women tend to have less access to during their lives,” he added.

Addressing a virtual Insurance and Pensions Journalism Mentorship Program (JMP) hosted by the Insurance and Pension Commission (IPEC) and National Social Security Authority (NSSA) recently, NSSA Chief Social Security Officer, Tambudzai Jongwe said Zimbabwe faces the problem of social security exclusion, and as a result a vast majority of its population is left vulnerable and exposed to poverty.

“NSSA schemes are contributory based covering the formally employed who constitute 5.5 percent of the working populace leaving 94.5 percent of informal sector workers vulnerable and not covered,” she said.

Jongwe added: “The total number of registered employers in the country is 106 310, and out of this figure, only 26 997 are active.

“This worrying situation not only negatively affects the financial viability and sustainability of NSSA schemes in terms of financing and expenditure, but it also affects benefit levels.

She further asserted that the majority of Zimbabweans, especially older people, are without cover against life cycle risks such as old age, invalidity, health care, and employment injury and this is a gross violation of basic human rights.

“Absence of insurance cover against these risks not only traps them in endless poverty but leads to social exclusion,” Jongwe added.

IPEC Director of Pensions, Cuthbert Munjoma also bemoaned low pension coverage ratio in the country.

“There is low pension coverage ratio due to the exclusion of the informal sector,” he said, adding that high pension administration expenses – averaging 28 percent of contributions and 1.13 percent of income, and high contribution arrears – $887 million as at 30 June 2020 are some challenges affecting the pensions industry.

Munjoma also said benefits that do not meet reasonable expenses – averaging $451 per month as at June 2020, product irrelevance in the face of hyperinflation, and unclaimed benefits – 152 827  members with a combined value of $196.46 million as at 30 June 2020 are inhibiting the growth of the pensions sector in the country.

For development practitioner, Cynthia Chanengeta, all Zimbabweans deserve the right to an adequate standard of living and to social security, and NSSA, IPEC, and the state have a duty to promote the uptake of social security schemes in the country.

“Social security not only helps people recover from a crisis or supports the chronically poor to escape from the jaws of poverty; it also supports and lifts the less active poor, especially older people from abject poverty,” she said.

Chanengeta added that stakeholders in the pensions sector have a duty to confront the labelling of older people as a burden to progress, and should accentuate instead the inputs older people make to their families, communities, and the nation.

“Social security should be seen as one vital cog of a broader social protection system devised to tackle the multi-dimensional facets of poverty that comprises measures to ensure access to basic services in addition to the eradication of gender bias,” she said.

NSSA Marketing and Communications Executive, Tendai Mutseyekwa said NSSA, constituted and established in terms of the NSSA Act of 1989 [Chapter 17:04], is expanding social security in Zimbabwe in sync with the human rights framework.

“NSSA is mandated to administer every scheme and fund that is established in terms of the NSSA Act of 1989 [Chapter 17:04] to ensure the right to social security, as well as the right to an adequate standard of living to all Zimbabweans,” he said.

Mutseyekwa added that NSSA’s scope in the provision of social security consists of instituting public policy measures intended to protect an individual in life situations in which his/her livelihood and well-being may be threatened, such as those engendered by sickness, workplace injuries, unemployment, invalidity, old age, retirement, and death.

“Social security plays a pivotal role in enhancing financial inclusion of the poor and marginalised groups in society like older women,” he said. “In Zimbabwe, traditionally we had the Zunde Ramambo/Isiphala leNkosi system where communities pooled resources together for use in times of need.

“In more recent times, we have seen, in Zimbabwe, a proliferation of informal burial and savings societies as rudimentary forms of social insurance.”

He further said Zimbabwe has a relatively comprehensive social protection system comprising social assistance programmes and contributory social insurance programmes.

NSSA Acting Director for Contributions, Collections and Compliance, Agnes Masiiwa said the ability of social security schemes to provide services to its members is related to the degree of support it gets from employers and employees, and its success will be guaranteed by the extent to which people comply with the Social Security law.

“In Zimbabwe whilst we have not yet reached the level where we can protect our members from all social security contingencies, considerable strides have been made in providing protection to our labour force and families from hardships emanating from income stoppage due to sickness, employment injury, old age, and death,” she said.

Sakupwanya said although access to information if a basic human right, some eligible pension beneficiaries in Zimbabwe are reeling in abject poverty due to lack of information of the existence of their pensions.

He, therefore, urged stakeholders in the pensions sector to invest in information dissemination for the benefit of the pensioners and the general citizenry.

“There should be a rigorous campaign to educate pensioners and the public in general on the operation and benefits of pension,” he said.

IPEC reported that there is a large amount of unclaimed pensions due to lack of information and these unclaimed pensions may be for pensioners who are reeling in poverty.

For HelpAge International – a global network of organisations promoting the rights of all older people to lead dignified, health, and secure lives – expanding social security systems is more than a policy option.

“It is, first and foremost, a duty that stems from human rights norms and standards, particularly the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to social security,” noted HelpAge International.

The organisation – which also helps older people to claim their rights, challenge discrimination, and overcome poverty, continued: “Inclusive social security coverage is more in line with human rights obligations in a number of key aspects. It responds to the claim of universality of human rights norms; it complies with the principles of equality and non-discrimination; and it also reduces possible stigmatisation, as all who comply with the age requirement receive the benefit.”