Chief executive officer of the Social Security Commission (SSC), Milka Mungunda, has urged members of Parliament to assist in amending the Social Security Act of 1994, which she said will greatly benefit the informal economic sector.

Speaking on Wednesday before the Parliamentary Committee on Economic and Public Affairs, Mungunda said the SSC’s ability to assist people in the informal sector in the same way as those in the formal sector is restricted by the existing legislation.

She said they have been working on the Social Security Amendment Bill for the last six years to amend the Social Security Act of 1994.

“I am glad that we are talking to you as we really want you to help us table that bill because we are coming up with a robust proposal for the amendment of this act. Once the bill goes through as an act, it is going to solve a lot of problems, not just for the informal sector,” she said.

Mungunda further said, “If you are in the informal sector, you do not exactly know where to go. Must you go to the ministry of trade, must you go to Bipa, must you go to Social Security, and if you need funding, must you go to FNB? If you are in the informal sector, you do not have those kinds of avenues because you are not exposed. I think that as legislators, I would really want to look at how to consolidate some of these things.”

The committee chairperson, Natangwe Iithete, said that the parliamentary committee is holding public meetings with various stakeholders on the motion that was tabled by Swapo Party legislator Agnes Kafula, to investigate the plight of informal traders.

“The main issue is to assist the traders in how to conduct their business, the issue of taxes, and the issues of being moved left, right and centre, sometimes not necessarily by Social Security, but sometimes even by the municipality, and so on,” he said.  - Nampa