SSC pays out benefits of N$73 million

MORE THAN N$73 million in benefits have been paid out to members of the Social Security Commission (SSC) since the beginning of the 2008-09 financial year.

Rino Muranda, Corporate Affairs Officer at the SSC, announced this week that more than N$60 million had been paid out by the Maternity leave, Sick leave and Death benefits (MSD) Fund alone between March and December 2008, while the remaining N$12,8 million was paid out by the Employee Compensation Fund.He said maternity leave beneficiaries took up the greatest chunk of the payouts, amounting to N$41 million – a 138 per cent increase from the previous year, in which N$17,5 million had been paid.Muranda attributed the large increase to adjustments made at the beginning of March 2008, whereby qualifying maternity leave beneficiaries now receive 100 per cent of their earnings up to N$6 000, compared to the previous payout of only N$2 400 per month.The number of successful maternity leave claims totalled 14 430, compared to 11 098 in 2007 – a 30 per cent increase.Payments for sick leave benefits reached N$7,8 million, almost twice the N$4 million paid out in 2007, while death benefits amounted to N$5,2 million, covering just over 1 500 deaths.The N$12,8 million payout from the Employee Compensation Fund covered 3 998 successful claims, including compensation, medical and accident pension fund payouts.’Medical expenses for employment-related injuries, injuries on duty, amounted to about N$6,6 million, while an mount of just over N$2,7 million was paid as compensation to members who sustained serious employment-related injuries. Similarly, the Accident Pension Fund paid out more than N$3,4 million to beneficiaries of members who sustained fatal work-related injuries,’ said Muranda.He added that the SSC is also dealing with a long and growing list of beneficiaries who submitted claims, but have failed to collect their money, accumulating to over N$1,3 million by the end of 2008.According to the Social Security Commission Act, unclaimed money is forfeited 12 months after the official list has been gazetted. Muranda said the SSC hasn’t gone this route yet and is trying to inform the beneficiaries that they should claim their payouts.’We have published the list in the print media, and have made announcements on radio, and are now also engaging the regional councils in assisting in making the list available to the public,’ he said.Muranda said research on an envisaged National Pension Fund is still ongoing. The fund was nearly implemented and then aborted in 2001 and 2004.Muranda said South Africa and Tanzania had recently implemented national pension funds, and that those models would be studied. – nangula@namibian.com.na