Govt appeals to civil servants to be patient

The Government, through Acting Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Supa Mandiwanzira, yesterday appealed to civil servants to be patient over delayed pay days saying things would return to normal soon.

"We appeal to workers to understand the Government situation," he said. "The fact of the matter is that Government would like to pay salaries when they're due. If the money was there, Government would pay now. There's no reason to delay the salaries, but the current cash flow challenges have militated against Government's obligations to civil servants and other stakeholders owed. We can continue saying please hear Government's plea, we're doing everything we can to ensure this doesn't become a permanent situation."

The employer last Friday paid the $100 to cushion the workers, while full dues will be paid on July 7 (teachers) and July 14 (health workers and the rest of the civil service).

Speaking after a three-hour meeting attended by 14 civil servants unions, Apex Council team leader Mrs Cecilia Alexander, said there was no going back in demanding what was due to the workers.

"The employer must urgently address the concerns of the workers, failure of which, the workers have resolved to take action starting from Tuesday, the 5th of July 2016 onwards," she said.

Government, which is facing low revenue inflows, has only managed to pay civil servants in the security sector. A planned demonstration by a bogus teachers' union linked to the MDC-T failed last Friday as no workers turned up for the protest.

Only the leaders of the Obert Masaraure-led Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, turned up and failed to get access to the Minister's office.

Apex Council representatives dismissed the planned demonstrations as a publicity stunt by the union, which is not part of the Apex Council.

Government is rationalising the civil service to cut on its wage bill, which stands at $200 million per month. This translates to more than 80 percent of revenue collected.

The rationalisation exercise is expected to save $400 million annually.