Maputo, 22 Oct (AIM) – The Mozambican Minister of Labour, Ivete Alane, has announced that as of next year over 7,000 Mozambican nationals working in South Africa will start receiving their pensions and other benefits in Mozambique.
According to Alane, who was speaking on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the National Meeting on Migrant Labor, in the resort of Macaneta, about 30 kilometres north of Maputo, the workers will receive their benefits in the country, without worrying about having to travel to South Africa to collect them.
“The social security benefits include compensation for occupational illnesses or workplace accidents, and pensions for those who have stopped working for various reasons”, she said.
The minister called on the technical team responsible for migrant labor to strengthen the data collection process and the computer system responsible for worker registration.
“The technical team must also ensure continuity of information on Mozambican workers abroad. Procedures are now under way to channel the amounts previously deducted from the workers’ monthly wages to Mozambique”, the minister said.
According to government data, over 20,000 Mozambicans have formal jobs in South Africa. Of these, 18,800 are miners and 3,058 work on farms.
A United Nations report from 2019 estimated that the total number of migrants from Mozambique in South Africa was over 700,000. However, this number includes migrants of all backgrounds, not just formal workers. The vast majority of Mozambicans in South Africa are thus working in the informal sector.
(AIM)
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