Informal traders request access to social security facilities

Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Trust Association (BVTA) has urged the Government to craft a national budget that would establish subsidised insurance, medical aid and pension schemes for players in the informal sector.

The schemes would be targeted at cushioning traders in the informal sector from social and economic vulnerabilities as the sector has unique characteristics that need to be attended to.

Speaking during the 2023 national budget consultation meeting organised by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Finance and Economic Development in Bulawayo on Wednesday, BVTA executive director, Mr Michael Ndiweni said most of their members are vulnerable when they retire and there is a need to be cushioned.

He said informal traders are willing to make monthly contributions of between $3 and $5.

“We are requesting various social security schemes for people in the informal economy. If they do not sell various wares and fall ill, they won’t be able to access money to seek treatment.

“Those who are formally employed contribute to various medical aid schemes, but those in the informal sector don’t have medical aid. We are asking the Government to ensure that the 2023 national budget, provides social security.

“That should also happen with pensions. Players in the informal sector don’t have pensions, so we appeal to the Government to also budget around access to social security facilities for people in the informal economy,” said Mr Ndiweni.

Mr Ndiweni said the informal sector has a majority of the country’s workforce and there is a need for a unique social security scheme and the proposal has huge backing from traders.

Early this year, the National Social Security Authority (Nssa) prepared similar recommendations to the Government for a social security scheme for the informal sector.

The proposed scheme is in line with Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 1 and is part of Nssa’s contribution to a prosperous upper-middle-income economy by 2030.

National Social Security Authority

Nssa says access to social security is a basic human right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN Protocols, the International Labour Organisation accords and Zimbabwe’s Constitution.-chronicle.co.zw