Workers’ representatives have raised concern over the low pension pay-outs by the Government, with some retirees getting just ZWL$14 000 after decades of service.
In a letter that has been circulating on social media platforms, a pensioner who had worked for 21 years was set to receive $14 025 after years of service.
This translates to just US$48 using the official exchange rate.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary-general Raymond Majongwe said the pension payout is shameful.
Former Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Peter Mutasa called for the dollarisation of the economy to preserve people’s pensions. He said:
Zimbabwe is a failed state; people should understand it from this perspective. It is a state that is failing on all levels.
It is failing to manage the economy and the country has been struggling with high inflation.
The local currency has lost value. The government is even failing to provide public service, so when you are under a failed state; there is nothing that you can do to address one factor because pensions are a fraction of the salary contributions that one has made over a number of years.
Government is not accepting reality on the ground that they have failed. They should just dollarise and make sure that everyone gets paid in a currency that is meaningful, which is the US dollar to preserve people’s pensions.