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Enterprise and Cooperative
Development Department
Poverty-oriented
Banking
Working paper
No. 16
Migrant worker remittances
in Lesotho: A review of the
Deferred Pay Scheme
Theo Sparreboom
Pete Sparreboom-Burger
International Labour Office Geneva
POVERTY-ORIENTED BANKING
WORKING PAPER N° 16
Migrant worker remittances
in Lesotho: A review of the
Deferred Pay Scheme
Theo Sparreboom
Pete Sparreboom-Burger
Enterprise and Cooperative Development Department
International Labour Office Geneva
Table of contents
Acknowledgement 1
1. Introduction 3
1.1 Background 3
1.2 Plan of the paper 3
2. The importance of migrant labour for Lesotho 5
2.1 Employment 5
2.2 Income 6
2.3 Expenditure 8
3. Institutional arrangements 11
3.1 Laws and regulations concerning the Deferred Pay Scheme 11
3.2 Financial practice of deferred pay in Lesotho 12
4. Assessment 13
4.1 Potential benefits of the scheme 13
4.2 Criticism expressed by participants 14
4.3 Theoretical evaluation 15
5. Conclusions and recommendations 17
5.1 Conclusions 17
5.2 Recommendations 17
References 19
List of tables
Table 1: Number of migrant miners and the labour force 5
Table 2: Miners' income and remittances 7
Table 3: Miners' remittances and national product 7
Table 4: Miners' remittances and the product of domestic sectors 8
Table 5: The effect of miners' remittances on the local economy 8
Table 6: Interest rates payable by financial institutions in July 1995 12
Table 7: Size and interest rates of the Deferred Pay Fund 13
Table 8: Deferred pay in different countries in June 1995 14
1
Acknowledgement
The production of the present document would not have been possible without the
invaluable support of many officials in Lesotho, especially within the Ministry of Labour and
Employment.
Needless to say, however, that the views expressed in this paper are those of the
authors; they have the sole responsibility for any error, omission or misinterpretation of data.
3
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
Migrant labour is an important source of work and income in many countries. Labour
shortages in one country can be compensated for by labour surpluses in another, thus helping
to solve the problems of unemployment and income generation in the migrant workers' home
country.
At the same time, migration may be viewed as a source of problems. Migrant workers
compete with the domestic labour force for scarce job opportunities. Secondly, only part of
migrant income is spent in the home country, thus limiting the multiplier effect on local
demand. This has given rise to various arrangements designed to make sure at least part of
migrant income is repatriated.
This document considers the economic effects of institutional arrangements with
respect to the repatriation of mineworkers' income to Lesotho. The current arrangements are
a legacy of agreements between non-democratic governments in Lesotho and the Republic
of South Africa (RSA). The recent democratisation of both countries has reopened the
discussion on these arrangements. Increased attention for the economic effects of cross-
border labour flows is also merited by current trends towards regionalisation and globalisation.
1.2 Plan of the paper
In chapter 2, we start by assessing the importance of migrant labour for Lesotho. After
reviewing the labour market situation, we look at the importance of migrant labour income for
the economy of Lesotho. We continue by describing the current institutional arrangements for
repatriation of income in chapter 3. Formal financial regulations as well as practice are
considered. Subsequently, in chapter 4, we attempt to quantify the potential benefits of the
existing arrangements, and we provide an overview of criticism to the existing arrangements
as expressed by migrants and the institutions involved. To complete the assessment of the
arrangements we look at the advantages and disadvantages of the arrangements from a
theoretical point of view. The document finishes in chapter 5 with conclusions and a number
of recommendations.
1
Mosotho (singular) or Basotho (plural) are the people of Lesotho.
2
The LFS indicated that 165,615 people worked outside the country, or about 27 per cent of the labour
force.
3
This rate of growth may be considered as the lower bound of estimates of population growth rates in
Lesotho. See for example Bureau of Statistics (1992) and IMF (1994).
5
2. The importance of migrant labour for Lesotho
2.1 Employment
Lesotho is completely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. While the large
majority of the population lives in rural areas, only about a quarter of the total land area of
30,350 square kilometres is more or less suitable for cultivation. Most of the country consists
of steep mountains, that reach heights of more than 3,000 metres above sea level, and are
prone to erosion. Arable land is lost every year due to the expansion of human settlements and
severe overgrazing. Erratic rainfalls make investment in agriculture risky. Many Basotho
1
try
to find employment outside the agricultural sector. However, employment opportunities in other
sectors are scarce, and education and skills do not always match the needs of the economy
(Sechaba Consultants, 1995).
The latest Labour Force Survey, dating back to 1986, produced an estimate of the total
labour force of 623,385 (Bureau of Statistics, 1986), while unemployment was calculated to
be 23 per cent. For the same year, statistics of the Central Bank reveal that 121,450 migrant
workers were registered to be active in South African mines
2
, mainly gold mines (Central Bank
1995a). If we assume a growth rate of 2.6 per cent per year, the labour force in 1994 may be
estimated at 765,482 while 101,032 Basotho mineworkers were registered in that year.
3
Table 1 presents the absolute numbers of migrant workers and their proportion to the
total labour force since 1986, assuming the growth rate mentioned above.
Table 1: Number of migrant miners and the labour force
Year Average number
employed
Change over
previous year
Share of labour
force
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
121,450
125,934
124,781
126,264
127,386
122,188
119,596
116,129
101,032
4.5
3.7
-0.9
1.2
0.9
-4.1
-2.1
-2.9
-13.0
19.5
19.7
19.0
18.8
18.4
17.2
16.4
15.6
13.2
Source: Central Bank 1995a and projections based on Bureau of Statistics 1986.
4
Recently the Republic of South Africa has announced that migrant workers as of next year will have the
possibility to apply for some form of citizenship after a defined period of working in the Republic (probably
five years). These measures will probably affect remittances in a negative way, and with this the national
product and the balance of payments.
6
As can be seen in the table, the average number of migrant workers as a proportion
of the labour force reached a peak of almost 20% in 1987, and has since then shown a steady
decrease. The average absolute number of migrant workers has been on the decrease since
1990.
4
In 1994, the 101,032 migrant workers still accounted for 13.2 per cent of the projected
labour force. This percentage may be compared with the percentage employed in the formal
sector of Lesotho, which, very narrowly defined, consists of the public sector, the large-scale
private manufacturing sector and the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.
Employment in the public sector stood at 31,000 at the end of 1994 (Central Bank
1995a). The majority of large-scale firms in the manufacturing sector are assisted by the
Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC), which estimates employment in these
companies at almost 16,000 in 1994. The Highlands Water Project employs around 4,000
Basotho. Employment in the entire formal sector stood at approximately 7 per cent of the
labour force in 1994, or a little more than half the employment in the mines. Taking a broader,
more realistic definition of formal wage jobs to include small scale companies (on which
reliable data are hardly available), would give rise to an estimated 12 per cent of the labour
force in formal wage jobs in 1993 (World Bank 1995). Whatever definition is used, it is clear
that the mines are of paramount importance for the employment of the Basotho.
In view of the decreasing employment opportunities in the RSA, the number of Basotho
mineworkers in South Africa is not expected to grow in the near future. Declining prices of gold
in the recent past have induced the closing of some marginal mines and the shift to more
capital intensive techniques among mine-owners. Moreover, current political developments
in the Republic of South Africa result in stronger competition for work in the mines from RSA
citizens (Ministry of Planning, Economic and Manpower Development 1992). In the near future,
this might result in a decrease in the share of Basotho in total South African mine employment,
which has on average been above 25 per cent since 1986 (IMF 1994).
Thus, the labour market for migrant work in Lesotho is characterised by strong upward
supply-side pressures from the side of Basotho job applicants, while the demand for this
labour becomes more and more constrained.
2.2 Income
Migrant labour is an important source of income for Lesotho. Table 2 shows Central
Bank estimates on average yearly wages and average number employed per year to calculate
total average income of miners between 1989 and 1993. We used IMF data on miners'
remittances to calculate the proportion of this income remitted to Lesotho.
From the table we can see that in 1993 total miners' income was estimated to be 1.55
billion, while their remittances constituted 72 per cent of this income.
5
In November 1995, the US dollar approximately equaled 3.7 Maloti. The monetary value of Maloti equals
the value of South African Rands, which are legal tender in Lesotho next to Maloti.
7
Table 2: Miners' income and remittances
(Average number employed in thousands of persons; wages in thousands of Maloti; income and
remittances in millions of Maloti)
5
Year Average
number
employed
Average yearly
wage/miner
Total miner
income
Miners'
remittances
Percentage of
income remitted
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
126
127
122
120
116
8.7
10.1
11.3
12.3
13.4
1096.2
1282.7
1378.6
1476.0
1554.4
820.1
961.1
1041.1
1103.8
1126.5
0.75
0.75
0.76
0.75
0.72
Source: Central Bank 1995a and IMF 1994
Recently, the Central Bank undertook a survey with the objective of establishing more
accurate benchmark data for income, cash remittances and remittances in kind by Basotho
migrant mineworkers (Central Bank 1995b). The survey arrived at an estimate of the average
monthly wage income of a mineworker of around R905, defined as gross wage income less
taxes, contributions to pension, insurance and other deductions, and excluding overtime pay.
It was estimated that a Mosotho mineworker made a monthly cash remittance of around R442
through various channels including deferred pay, visits by mineworkers to family and friends,
etc. The monetary value of remittances in kind, such as clothing, farm implements and
merchandise, was estimated at R224. The survey indicated that on average total remittances
amounted to 71 per cent of the miners' total income. This figure is quite close to estimates
based on IMF data above which, however, do not include remittances in kind.
To determine the importance of miners' income for the country, remittances may be
compared with Gross Domestic Product and Gross National Product. This we did in Table 3
below.
Table 3: Miners' remittances and national product
(GDP and GNP in millions of Maloti)
Year GDP GNP Miners' remittances/
GDP
Miners' remittances/
GNP
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1300
1564
1800
2131
2476
2348
2805
3099
3506
4167
0.63
0.61
0.58
0.52
0.46
0.35
0.34
0.34
0.31
0.27
Source: IMF 1994
The table shows that in 1993 miners' remittances were about half the size of GDP, and
constituted about a quarter of GNP.
8
The great importance of miners' remittances for Lesotho is further underlined by
comparing remittances with the main productive sectors of Lesotho, as presented in Table 4
below.
Table 4: Miners' remittances and the product of domestic sectors
(Remittances, primary, secondary and tertiary products in millions of Maloti)
Year Miners'
remittances
Primary
product
Secondary
product
Tertiary
product
Remittances/
primary
product
Remittances/
secondary
product
Remittances/
tertiary
product
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
820
961
1041
1104
1127
227
252
174
160
244
384
482
616
789
887
430
528
645
768
900
3.61
3.81
5.98
6.90
4.62
2.14
1.99
1.69
1.40
1.27
1.91
1.82
1.61
1.44
1.25
Source: IMF 1994
As can be seen, remitted mine-income is a multiple of the income generated by each
local productive sector, reaching seven times the size of income generated by the primary
sector in 1992. It is therefore clear that migrant labour as a source of income is of paramount
importance for Lesotho and its nationals.
2.3 Expenditure
The impact of migrant worker remittances on the economy of Lesotho can also be
considered by looking at expenditure patterns. First of all, miners bring in foreign exchange,
which the country needs for imports. And secondly, miners consume and invest, spending their
money on local and foreign consumption and capital goods.
Table 5: The effect of miners' remittances on the local economy
(Imports millions of Maloti; import and local effect in proportions)
Year Imports Miners'
remittances/
imports
Imports/GNP Import effect Local effect
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1586
1937
2376
2568
2983
0.52
0.50
0.44
0.43
0.38
0.68
0.69
0.77
0.73
0.72
0.43
0.42
0.44
0.38
0.33
0.20
0.19
0.13
0.14
0.13
Source: IMF 1994
In table 5, we have first calculated total remittances as a percentage of imports. As can
be seen, in 1993 migrant workers brought in 38 per cent of the foreign currency needed for
imports. This is a sizeable contribution to the Balance of Payments.
We further calculated the propensity to import of the population of Lesotho, by dividing
imports by GNP. This propensity was consistently around 70 per cent over the years under
consideration, a relatively high figure. We can estimate the effect of remittances on the local
economy if we assume that the propensity to import from remittances sent back by migrant
workers is approximatively equal to the propensity to import of the total of the population. To
that end, we multiplied the fraction of GNP not spent on imports with miners' remittances, and
expressed the result as a proportion of gross domestic product. Thus, the local and import
effects in table 5 add up to remittances as a proportion of GDP in table 3 above.
9
Using this simple methodology, only an estimated 20 per cent of expenditure on
domestically produced gods and services can be attributed to miners' remittances in 1989,
decreasing to 13 per cent in 1993 (table 5). The decrease between 1989 and 1993 is due to
a combination of the increasing propensity to import of the population as a whole, as well as
of the decreasing remittances as a proportion of GDP. Considering the fact that mineworkers'
families are relatively rich, and that the rich tend to have more access to imported products,
it is likely that the proportion of mineworkers' income spent on local products is even lower.
The multiplier effect of remittances on the local economy is therefore limited.
Although migrant work makes a sizeable contribution to employment, gross national
product and the balance of payments, it has currently little effect on the development of the
local economy in terms of local expenditure.
6
Recently, the Board of Trustees decided also to invest part of the Fund in the Lesotho Highlands Water
Project.
11
3. Institutional arrangements
3.1 Laws and regulations concerning the Deferred Pay Scheme
The Deferred Pay Scheme in Lesotho was set up in 1974 "to ensure that a higher
percentage of money paid to Basotho mineworkers was invested/utilized in the domestic
economy as against a prior situation whereby the opposite was seen as the case" (Ministry of
Employment and Labour 1995b). The scheme was also meant to increase the appreciation
for savings among mineworkers.
The Deferred Pay Fund is administered by a Board of Trustees responsible for
— investing Fund resources on the advice of the Managing Director of the Lesotho Bank
in such a manner that the securities shall be realisable on demand;
— make arrangements for interest accruing from the moneys invested to be paid as soon
as practicable to employees at a rate equal, or approximately equal, to the rate payable
by the Savings Bank Branch of the Lesotho Bank on normal deposits made therein.
[Act N° 18 of 1974, sections 5(a) and (b)].
The Board of Trustees is chaired by the Principal Secretary of Labour and Employment.
Presently, it is also made up of representatives from Lesotho Bank, the Ministries of
Employment and Labour, Agriculture and Finance of Lesotho and the Ministry of Labour of
RSA. Employers are sometimes allowed to make statements in the meetings of the Board of
Trustees, and employees are also represented, be it on an individual basis and not through
trade unions.
6
A revision of the Deferred Pay Act in 1979 stipulated that sixty per cent of the basic
wage should be deposited at Lesotho Bank, with the exception of pay during the first thirty
days of the contract. However, it was also stipulated that, in the case of an emergency:
the employee may make a written request to his employer that a sum of money, to be
specified in the request, shall be paid from the deferred pay standing to his credit to the
person named in that request.
[Act N° 1 of 1979, section 5(3)].
Deferred pay (Amendment) Order N° 1 of 1989 stipulated that moneys in the fund that
are not immediately required for repayment should be invested in treasury bills or other
securities issues or guaranteed by the Government.
Subsequently, Order N° 18 of 1990 decreased the percentage deferred pay to thirty per
cent of the wage, while employees could voluntarily agree to a percentage up to fifty per cent.
No deductions were allowed in respect of the first and the last thirty calender days of a
contract, while two withdrawals per contract period were allowed, each not exceeding fifty per
cent of the deferred pay standing to an employees credit. The Board decides on the interest
rate payable on the accounts at Lesotho Bank.
3.2 Financial practice of deferred pay in Lesotho
Most miners in Southern Africa are recruited by The Employment Bureau for Africa
(TEBA), a non-profit organisation, the recruiting arm of the mines. It has offices in all but one
of the districts of Lesotho. TEBA sells its services to the gold- and coal mines. In principal,
miners recruited through TEBA receive their income on an individual savings account with
TEBA Cash in the Republic of South Africa. TEBA Cash is a private commercial South African
savings bank and the TEBA offices in Lesotho serve as agents. Withdrawals from the
accounts can be made at the mines. According to TEBA, interest rates paid on the accounts
compare well with those on savings accounts with other commercial banks in the Republic of
12
South Africa. This is shown in table 6.
Table 6: Interest rates payable by financial institutions in July 1995
(amounts in Rands; interest rates in percentages)
1 - 499 500 - 999 1000 - 4999 5000 - 9999 50 000 +
ABSA
First
National
Standard
Nedbank
Saambou
Perm
NBS
TEBA-CASH
Rates
not
advertised
4.50
2.25
2.75
2.75
2.50
2.50
2.50
1.00
4.50
4.25
4.50
4.50
4.25
3.75
3.75
4.00
5.50
6.00
6.00
6.00
6.00
5.50
5.50
6.00
7.00
10.50
10.75
10.75
10.75
9.75
9.25
10.50
12.00
Most miners remit part of their wages to the TEBA-offices in the different districts of
Lesotho at their own initiative. But if in need, relatives in Lesotho can make a request for a
remittance at a TEBA office. TEBA informs the miner, and at his consent money is transferred
to the relative. A commission must be paid to TEBA.
However, miners do not receive all their income on an account with TEBA-Cash. In
principle, the mining companies transfer the required 30 per cent of their total wagebill to a
collective account at Lesotho Bank. Employees can make a maximum of two emergency
withdrawals before the end of their contract. The purpose of the withdrawal must be stated on
a form, and approval is at the discretion of the mining companies, while the "emergency"
content of the withdrawal may be checked by Lesotho Bank. At the end of their contract,
miners receive a deferred pay certificate from the mine. This they take to TEBA, which
identifies the miners and gives them an interest certificate. This task is carried out by two
employees at each TEBA-office, and TEBA assumes the costs. With this certificate miners can
go to Lesotho Bank and withdraw the remaining balance.
After 1990, the interest paid on deferred wages has been subject to substantial
changes. Presently, it stands at around 8 per cent, which may be compared with the interest
rates cited in table 6 above.
13
4. Assessment
4.1 Potential benefits of deferred pay
A measure of the effectiveness and efficiency of the scheme in mobilising resources
is the actual size of the Deferred Pay Fund. In 1993, total income of miners amounted to 1.55
billion Rand. 30 per cent of monthly wages are deferred, but no wage is deferred in the first
and the last month of a contract. This means that 10/12 times, 30 or 25 per cent of yearly
wages should be deferred, i.e. in 1993 a total amount of 388 million Rand.
Assuming that all deferred pay is withdrawn at the end of miners' contracts, on average
only half of the deposits, or 12.5 per cent of total miners' income, would be available in the
Fund, i.e. an amount of 194 million. However, miners are entitled to two emergency
withdrawals per year. If all miners would make full use of this provision, it can be calculated
that on average only 6.7 per cent of yearly wages would be available as resources in the Fund,
being 104 million Rand.
However, the Central Bank provides figures on the size of the Fund which are much
lower: total capital employed by the Fund was 51.6 million Rand at the end of 1993 (table 7).
Table 7: Size of the Deferred Pay Fund and interest rates
(deposits, withdrawals, accrual and fund in millions of Maloti;
interests in percentages)
Year Withdrawals Fund Average
interest
received
Interest
paid
Interest
commercial
savings
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994*
239,9
160,3
137,8
169,6
121,8
78,7
57,0
53,3
51,6
62,4
—
—
11,5
7,7
—
13,0
13,0
13,0
13,0
8,2
15,5
13,0
7,1
6,0
6,0
* 1994 data on withdrawals and fund refer to the third quarter; interest rates refer to the first quarter.
A number of factors may explain the discrepancy between the theoretical and the
actual size of the Fund. First of all, the actual deposits and withdrawals may be much lower
than the amounts that can be derived from figures on miners' income. Figures for withdrawals
are available and seem to confirm this: in 1993 they amounted to 170 million Rand.
Secondly, the lower deposits and withdrawals may be partly due to the fact that a
considerable number of mineworkers do not participate in the scheme, which could indicate
problems of enforcement.
The discrepancy might thirdly also be due to high operation costs of the scheme which
reduce fund balances. The Fund manages collective accounts, unlike the bank which
administers individual accounts. As the number of yearly transactions per miner is limited to
three (two emergency withdrawals and one final withdrawal), the administrative costs involved
in withdrawals are fairly low for the Fund.
14
A second source of costs is linked to the control and follow-up of non-compliance and
fraud. The Fund must make sure that all mining companies that employ Basotho mineworkers
participate in the scheme and comply with the rules. Late payment of deferred pay by mining
companies is, for example, a major cost item for the fund in terms of foregone interest.
A third possible source of costs is the interest differential on deferred pay. Since the
Board of Trustees meets only a few times per year, the rate applied to miners may lag behind
the rate earned on government securities during a period of decreasing interest rates, the fund
would then incur a negative interest spread.
We may conclude that, since the stock of capital employed by the Fund is relatively
small, the potential benefit of the scheme to the country is also limited.
4.2 Criticism expressed by participants in the scheme
Judged from the protests of the South African National Union of Mineworkers, to which
most Basotho miners are attached, the deferred pay system is not popular. Its abolition was
indeed part of the wage negotiations in 1994, although in the end no change was made. The
union's main problem is the obligatory and unflexible nature of the system. The scheme is also
felt to be discriminatory in the sense that South African nationals are not subject to the same
kind of regulations. The unpopularity of deferred pay may be underlined by the fact that the
participation rate in the voluntary schemes in Botswana and Swaziland is significantly lower
than in the obligatory schemes in Lesotho and Mozambique (table 8).
Table 8: Deferred pay in June 1995 in different countries
(amounts in thousands of Maloti)
Country Amount Number
Botswana
Swaziland
Mozambique
Lesotho
138
97
19119
12526
84
49
4479
8951
Source: TEBA 1995
Miners do not know what the deferred pay is actually used for. This is a consequence
of a lack of communication between them and the government. On the other hand, miners do
realize that they are not the ones who have access to loans from the Fund; Lesotho Bank has
a conservative lending policy and does not generally lend for the purpose of consumption or
investment in small businesses.
Also, the accountability of the DPS organs is not clear. Nor are the revenues and costs
involved known.
The deferred pay account is collective and therefore not very transparent. Some senior
miners find loopholes to avoid participation in the scheme, while illegal mineworkers are of
course excluded as well. Mining companies try to avoid participation in the scheme, and some
of those who do participate are always late when it comes to making payments to the Fund.
15
Lesotho Bank and TEBA, together with the Government, do their best to find ways to
make the scheme less costly and more effective. As an example, there are plans to replace
the collective account by individual accounts for each miner, which has actually already been
implemented by one mine. This will decrease the costs of enforcement, as it will become
possible to ensure participation of all Basotho miners. Also, it will facilitate the prevention of
fraud by means of easier detection of unwarranted withdrawals. Moreover, individual accounts
are attractive to Lesotho Bank as well as to miners because they abolish the need for a miner
to withdraw the remaining balance at the end of his contract. Lesotho Bank can thus attempt
to retain miners as clients even when their contracts are over, and miners can keep their
money in their account if they consider this convenient.
4.3 Theoretical evaluation
The Deferred Pay Scheme can be considered as a vehicle to maximize the benefits
of migrant work for Lesotho in a number of ways.
From a fiscal point of view, deferred pay may be viewed as an implicit tax on migrant
miners. For its revenue, the Government depends for the larger part on income from Southern
African Customs Union, while individual income tax accounted for only 8 per cent of total
government revenue in 1993/1994. Because arrangements concerning the future income flows
related to SACU are presently being renegotiated, the fiscal authorities may consider the
taxing of migrant labour as a convenient way to broaden the tax base.
The scheme is above all a source of loans (4 per cent of revenue in 1993/94) for the
Government. However, the savings opportunity offered by the scheme is only temporary, since
miners are expected to withdraw their savings at the end of their contract. Moreover, the
savings opportunity offered is not necessarily attractive. Miners cannot adjust the size and the
terms of their savings to their circumstances, and they cannot withdraw them if they find a
more attractive opportunity. There is no mechanism to ensure that the interest paid on deferred
pay is competitive, especially with regard to opportunities in South Africa.
Thirdly, deferred pay creates, theoretically, the possibility for a larger proportion of
miner income to be invested in the domestic economy. More local investment is one
requirement to improve the overall economic situation of the country. The small-scale sector
seems to have much potential for the use of local inputs and labour. However, currently no
mechanisms exist to ensure that the fund is actually used for investment in the private sector.
Although discussion on facilitating miners or retrenched miners to start a business has been
going on for some time now, at present there is little support for them to set up or develop a
business with their own savings in this sector.
Savings from remitted income and investment in the local economy are key issues for
the maximisation of benefits from migrant labour in Lesotho. However, in the case of Lesotho,
the Deferred Pay Scheme makes only a very limited contribution to domestic savings and
investment.
Conclusions and recommendations
5.1 Conclusions
The Deferred Pay Scheme may be considered as a way to stimulate savings and to
promote domestic investment, and as a source of revenue for the government, but it is not
accomplishing these objectives at this moment. Significant advances in effectiveness,
efficiency and sustainability will therefore be required.
5.2 Recommendations
Stimulation of savings
!
The Deferred Pay Scheme is not very effective in stimulating savings among migrant
workers. This is partly due to the obligatory and unflexible nature of the scheme;
miners cannot withdraw from the scheme, and they cannot adjust their level of savings
to their personal situation. In order to enhance effectiveness, we suggest that the
current scheme be replaced by savings opportunities for miners in which they can
participate on a
voluntary
basis, and which are tailored to their needs. It would also be
recommendable to create linkages with informal savings schemes set up by miners
themselves.
!
A thorough study of the schemes in Botswana and Swaziland is essential to learn the
lessons appropriate before any changes are made in the Deferred Pay Scheme of
Lesotho.
!
Communication between the Government of Lesotho and the miners about the social
and individual benefits of worker remittances could be improved. We would advise an
information campaign directed to miners.
!
Recent changes in the legal framework and trends towards deregulation do not seem
to allow for a scheme of the nature of the Deferred Pay Scheme. The scheme is
considered distortive, discriminatory and uncompetitive. It is therefore recommended
that all miners are offered equal savings opportunities, against a market rate of
interest. Interest rates should be higher on longer term savings and withdrawals should
not be restricted.
Promotion of investment
!
Investment in treasury bills, although relatively safe, is not necessarily the most
efficient way of using the Deferred Pay Fund for either Lesotho Bank or the country.
Investment in the private sector may be a riskier yet more efficient way of getting
benefits out of miners' income. If Lesotho Bank is to be held responsible for its
operations, it should be allowed to determine its own investment policy with respect to
miners' savings.
!
The current scheme does not involve a mechanism to ensure that miners' income is
used for investment in the local economy. At the same time, sectors that seem to have
potential, such as the small business sector, have very limited access to bank loans.
Even among the miners themselves, who are forced to save at the bank, very few
manage to get a loan. We would like to recommend that Lesotho Bank be supported
in its efforts to provide more small business loans. Also, it would be recommendable
to introduce mechanisms which facilitate the provision of small loans to miners or their
retrenched colleagues on the basis of their savings record with Lesotho Bank.
18
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