Apart from the fact that your chief reporter does not seem to appreciate the difference between government pensions and social security pensions, he quotes the NSSA general manager, without having actually spoken to him, as defending monthly pension payments of $25, when in fact the minimum monthly pension paid by NSSA is currently $40.
What makes such misrepresentations particularly reprehensible is the fact that on 3 June NSSA provided detailed answers to questions submitted by your newspaper which made it clear that the general manager does not think the minimum monthly pension of $40 is adequate, particularly for those living in urban areas, although it is the most that can be paid as a minimum pension with current contribution levels and better than the minimum amount paid by private occupational pension schemes with higher contribution levels than the NSSA scheme.
The response explained that the reason for the inadequacy of the minimum or even average monthly pension is the low contribution level and the ceiling that has been placed on insurable earnings, on which pension payments are based. The maximum combined employee and employer monthly contribution to the national pension fund administered by NSSA is currently only $12.
It would appear some of your reporters feel it is unnecessary to confirm facts and are happy to rely on old file information and even then repeat such information inaccurately.
For instance in another article in your 24 July issue, not only was the substance of the story, which suggested that NSSA was going to bail out Lobels, untrue but the person identified as the NSSA chairman is not in fact the NSSA chairman. He does, however, have the same first name as a previous chairman whose term as board chairman ended some years ago.
Such sloppy journalism does nothing for your newspaper’s credibility. – Michael Hamilton, Harare
Post published in: Letters to the Editor