Consider this hypothetical case: a Malawian-born, 18-year-old crosses rivers, mountains and borders and finds himself in South Africa’s gold mines. He gives his all for more than five decades until his body sags at almost 70. He decides to go back to Malawi, the land of his youth, to spend the rest of his days among once-familiar surroundings. Back in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, the health insurance and other benefits he was entitled to and enjoying in South Africa abruptly fall away.
This scenario might be a thing of the past if results from research being undertaken by Marius Olivier, a professor at the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) centre for international and comparative labour and social security law, are implemented. Supported by the Southern Africa Trust, the research, titled Social Protection for Intra-SADC Migrants: Access, Portability and Inclusion, is being conducted in Angola, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. It began in October and will continue until September next year.
The study will investigate migration, both legal and illegal, and its effect on the right to social security. It will explore the position of non-citizens in the social security nets of the various Southern African Development Community (SADC) states. It is hoped this will lead to a better understanding of migration and social security systems in the region that will, in turn, lead to a harmonisation of these systems.
Access to social security is an important aid in overcoming poverty in Southern Africa. The intention of the Southern Africa Trust, together with UJ, is that this research will contribute to discussions at regional level so that governments can develop policy that allows migrants access to their pensions and other social security instruments.
Olivier told the Mail & Guardian that the research is primarily concerned with the social security status of non-citizen workers in the region. ”Our concern is whether workers access social security services in the countries they work.” Olivier said the other component of the research is the portability of benefits. Simply put, this means if a Malawian worker is accessing benefits in South Africa, the research will investigate whether he will be able to access the same benefits if he returns to Malawi. ”Normally they won’t be able to carry over the benefits, unless the law of the country permits it or if there is an existing agreement.”
He said in the past South Africa had agreements with Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and other countries in the region that allowed retired mineworkers to access their pensions. He said these arrangements were not between governments. ”The South African government simply encouraged employers to make those benefits available,” he said, adding that ”not all of these arrangements are still operational”.
He said there was a need to change existing legislation and agreements about life insurance, pension, health, road accident funds and related benefits. He said in Europe it is possible for a French worker who has worked all his life in Germany to retain and access his benefits once he goes back to his native France. ”The European Union has even entered into third-country agreements, which allow portability with countries that are not in the EU.” He cited Britain, which has portability arrangements with New Zealand.
Olivier admitted that difficulties arise when migrant workers don’t have documents. ”It’s much more difficult when the worker is undocumented. One is not entitled to benefits if one is working illegally. In fact, most countries don’t grant social security benefits to undocumented migrants.” He said he was doing a separate, but related, study of Malawian migrants in South Africa and in their native Malawi to try to find out how they survive here and how they cope when they leave their work.
Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven welcomed the study. ”Migrant workers must have exactly the same rights as other workers. We are totally opposed to discrimination of any sort.”
Tara Polzer, a researcher at Wits University’s forced migration department, said the challenge that faces the system is that most benefits are national in nature. ”If you are a foreigner and you leave employment, you lose your right to be resident in that country.” Trying to access those benefits might involve a cumbersome visa application process. She said a person might lose his or her benefits in this way.
It was imperative that SADC comes up with a regional fund that can be accessed from anywhere within the region, she said, adding that it was not fair for people to work hard all their lives only to lose their benefits because of an arbitrary border.
Zolisa Sigabi, labour spokesperson for the South African government, said ”migrant workers from the SADC region should be able to access pensions, as these would be private pension or industry pension schemes”. She pointed out that there was a move that was strongly opposed some years ago for migrants in the mines to have their remittances transferred to governments in other SADC countries. She said the South African government would oppose such a move as ”remittances should go directly to the worker/beneficiary”.
Sigabi also noted that migrants are covered by the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, which has a broad definition of ”employees”, but they are not eligible for unemployment benefits under the Unemployment Insurance Fund Act. She pointed that the department of labour has participated in International Labour Organisation discussions about ensuring a fair deal for migrant workers.