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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau

The National Social Security Authority (NSSA) has dismissed claims by some businesses that it charges exorbitant rentals which have resulted in a drop in the occupants on most of its properties.

The organisation’s deputy director for Marketing and Communications, Mr Tendai Mutseyekwa said instead the current occupants’ rate at their properties currently stands at around 90 percent.

He said the rentals are pegged after surveys on the competitiveness of the market.

Mr Mutseyekwa was speaking at the opening of the journalism mentorship programme held recently that is being jointly hosted by NSSA and the Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC).

“On the contrary, we have been charging rentals which were below markets levels and corrective measures have been done to recover the monies,” he said.

“In fact, our properties’ portfolio is doing well and at the moment, the occupants’ rate stands between 85 percent and 90 percent. The 10 to 15 percent deficit is reasonable if we look at the current state of the properties portfolio in the country.

Naturally, when we make investments, we expect to get value for the investment and hence diligence must be done in coming up with rental fees.”

Mr Mutseyekwa said although all was well in their properties’ section, the organisation was taking corrective measures in some outlying areas across the country.

The occupants’ rate at the NSSA business complex in Gwanda has been falling with businesses arguing that the organisation’s rentals were not sustainable.

In 2016, the Rainbow Tourism Group pulled out of the NSSA hotel in Beitbridge after making a loss of $2 million in three years.

In addition, the occupants’ rates at the hotel had fallen to around 20 percent in the years under review and many investors have tried a number of projects at the Nssa hotel, though the initiatives remained pipe dreams.