Zimbabwe teachers buy four hearses

PROGRESSIVE Teachers Union of Zimbabwe has unveiled four hearses that will assist civil servants during bereavement time.

The bereavement scheme that became functional in March this year will benefit all PTUZ members countrywide.

Speaking during the launch of the scheme over the weekend, PTUZ secretary general Mr Raymond Majongwe, said the initiative came as a result of the challenges being faced by teachers and civil servants in general.

He said the salaries teachers were getting resulted in them failing to meet funeral costs.

"Teachers are experiencing a lot of challenges when it comes to their funerals and that of their relatives simply because they are getting peanuts. Most of them have received pauper burials. They experience transport problems to carry mourners from the point of death to the final destination hence the need for such a scheme," he said.

Civil servants earn a monthly average of US$200, a figure that is far away from the poverty datum line estimated at US$502.

He said members would not pay anything for the scheme but the money would be deducted from their monthly subscriptions.
Mr Majongwe said the scheme would also cover the children and spouses of their members.

"So far people from as far as Gwanda, Karoi, Umzingwane, Chinhoyi and Nkayi have so far benefited from the scheme but I can say Matabeleland South has been the most beneficiary with more than six funerals being provided with the hearses," he said.