Gweru City Council struggles to pay December salaries

THE cash-strapped Gweru City Council (GCC) is struggling to pay its workers their December salaries including bonuses.

The failure by the local authority to pay its 1 200 employees has had a negative impact on most of them who are now struggling to pay school fees and rentals.

Some of the workers have resorted to venting their anger through the Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRA) social media platforms.

The WhatsApp platform has GCC councillors, managers, council employees, residents and landlords.

The employees said they were failing to pay school fees for their children, particularly those with children going for Grade One and Form One.

"We are in January and we haven't been paid our December salaries and bonuses. Schools have reopened and we have children going to Grade One and Form One who need school fees and school uniforms. We also need to be paid so that we meet other obligations like rentals as well," wrote one participant on the social media platform.

"What do you expect us to do when you still owe us our dues?"

GRRA director Mr Cornelius Selipiwe said council employees on the platform were justified to express their concern on the group as they will be sending distress messages to their employer.

"I think the council employees are spot on. Remember they are also residents and partake in issues that affect residents and most of them are tenants who need to pay rentals," he said.

"So venting their anger on the GRRA group is primarily because they want to reach out to their employers and the landlord as well. Remember on this platform we have GCC management, councillors, residents and landlords and this is a channel they are using to communicate with their employer."

Mr Selipiwe said the local authority is also failing to address issues revolving around the welfare of its employees.

 "Yes, efforts are there, but we are not satisfied because there is a lot that needs to be done to improve their employees' welfare and service delivery. The employees are the vehicles for service delivery and therefore they should be paid well and on time," he said.

"If they are not able to pay their employees, they need to cut on local and foreign trips where they will be getting allowances. Remember we are focusing more on back to school and everyone needs money."

GCC spokesperson Ms Vimbai Chingwaramusee confirmed that the council is yet to pay the December salaries and bonuses.

"We had delays in salary payments, and we have paid some of the banks. We are now left with processing the remainder of the money this week. We communicated with the employees about the challenge," she said.

Ms Chingwaramusee blamed residents and ratepayers for failing to settle their arrears, saying it had a bearing on council's failure to pay salaries and deliver effective service.

 "At times some people don't pay for reasons we don't know. From a survey, which we conducted, there are also some residents, who think that the local authority will write off their debts, which is not possible," she said.

"So, we have gone the normal way of writing letters to residents and companies who owe us and some ignore, which effectively forces us to take legal measures."

Ms Chingwaramusee said as of October last year, residents and ratepayers owed the local authority $54 billion in unpaid rates and service charges.

"In November last year, we collected over $8 billion of which over $3 billion went towards salary obligations. In December, we collected over $9 billion and over $4 billion was supposed to go towards salary commitments," she said.