BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA
Karemba Napi (91) is one of the senior inmates at Ida Wako Old People’s Home is Marondera, whose friendly smile charms all those who visit the institution.
Though he is fortunate to have a roof over his head, the senior citizen has nothing to show for all the years of employment. He did not get his pension benefits from a gold mine he worked for in South Africa.
“I worked at a gold mine under Wenela between 1957 and 1978,” Napi said.
Wenela was an acronym for Witwatersrand Nation Labour Association comprising mine workers drawn from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana and Mozambique.
“The gold mine later shut down and up to now I haven’t received any penny despite being an employee for so many years,” he said.
“The last time I tried to visit the company’s offices, I was told that the mine was now under new ownership.”
Napi is one of the men who headed down South where they worked in the gold mines in Johannesburg, popularly known as KuWenera or Joni.
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His tale is like that of many other Zimbabweans who have not been compensated for their labour and are now living in abject poverty. Though he is aware of the huge sums of money belonging to him across the Limpopo, age has caught up with him while living in confinement could have put a final
lid on the octogenarian’s chances of claiming his benefits. “After I came back from South Africa, I was shocked to find out that my relatives had sold everything I had laboured for and invested in my rural home in Seke. I ended up being here,” he said.
“I have approached the relevant ministry to assist me in claiming my benefits, but they keep on saying they are working on it. If I get bus fare to Johannesburg, I will be very happy because I want to sort this myself.”
About 40km east of Ida Wako is Lydia Masunda (74), whose late husband Never Masunda never confided in her about his pension status.
Masunda’s husband worked for close to 30 years at a local manufacturing company before retiring to his rural home of Macheke.
According to HelpAge, there is an estimated 800 000 elderly persons in Zimbabwe, that is about 7% of the total population.
Most of the elderly people housed at old people’s homes in the country hail from Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique.
“My husband worked for many years in Harare, but he never confided in me about his pension benefits,” Masunda said.
“I am confident that he left something, but I do not know where to start.
“Unfortunately, he died two years ago without telling me about the pension benefits.” It is reported that a big chunk of pensioners who have not claimed their benefits were those that used to work in the clothing and mining industries.
Insurance and Pensions Commission (Ipec) spokesperson Lloyd Gumbo said over 50 000 pensioners have not claimed their benefits.
“We have over 50 000 people who have not claimed their pension benefits, which amount to about $30 million,” Gumbo said.
“They could be living in poverty yet they have money lying idle. “The reason why people have not claimed the money could be that those pensioners have forgotten that they have pensions that are due to them.
“Some didn’t tell their families so when they died the families didn’t claim the money.
“The surviving spouse can check with the company where the husband was working and do a follow-up.”
According to Ipec, the unclaimed pension benefits are kept at the Guardian Fund waiting for someone to claim. If not claimed, the money is sent to government to fund projects of national importance.
Speaking during the Zimbabwe Association of Pension Funds annual congress in Victoria Falls last year, Ipec head of pensions Josphat Kakwere said the failure to claim could be attributed to lack of knowledge on the part of pension scheme members or could be a result of poor recordkeeping by the pension funds, which makes it difficult for the pension funds to trace the members.
With the nation currently experiencing an economic meltdown, life is not rosy for Masunda who is struggling to make ends meet.
The ageing woman is certain that her late husband left some money in pension benefits which she cannot access due to lack of knowledge on where to begin. Her plight is worsened by the latest monetary policies and strategies imposed by the central government that has eroded the benefits again.
The de-dollarisation of the economy has negatively affected pensioners whose accounts are now almost empty.
Former MDC legislator and economist Eddie Cross said many people, including pensioners, are on the edge of destitution.
“For the second time in a decade, our savings have been wiped out, values turned upside down and markets thrown into chaos, with a dramatic decline in net disposable income,” Cross said.
“If you are on a fixed salary or pension, then you are now earning a quarter of what you earned in real terms just a year ago.
“But prices do not stay constant — fuel and transport charges are up three times, in the retail stores the prices are all over the place, but on average perhaps four to five times what they were a year ago. Many people must now be on the edge of destitution.”
A number of old people have become destitute as unfavourable economic policies have eroded their life savings.
On the other hand, Napi believes his pension is there in South Africa. Perhaps, after laying his hands on the money, he will leave the old people’s home. But for now, the home is his final hope as age takes its toll on him.
