'Civil servants salary normalisation in 3 months'

THE payment of civil servants' salaries will normalise within three months and the Government will announce this month's pay dates by August 20, a senior official said yesterday.

In an interview after officially opening the 9th Zimbabwe Railway Artisans Union congress in Bulawayo, the Principal Director in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Mr Simon Masanga, said despite funding challenges, the Government had already paid July salaries for the last batch of civil servants.

"We're calling on our workers to be patient as the late salary payment situation cannot improve overnight. It can take a month or two and Minister (Prisca) Mupfumira said it may take us two to three months for things to normalise," said Mr Masanga.

"Cash flow problems remain our major challenge and we hope it's a temporary situation. We've negotiated with our workers and there is general agreement with them that the Government is facing financial challenges." Mr Masanga urged all employers and employees to develop a healthy relationship shared by the Government and civil servants.

"We're just waiting to announce the pay dates for August which we will be able to do before August 20. If we face any problems we've agreed that we will notify the civil servants as they have appealed to Minister Mupfumira that they be paid within a particular month," he said.

Mr Masanga said the Government would, through Zim-Asset, address all problems crippling both the public and private sector. "The Government is still reeling from the effects of the financial crisis, drought and the sanctions and will ensure that all these problems are addressed as spelt out in Zim-Asset.

"We're called to work together; with each one of us playing their part in our different areas of operation in order to get Zimbabwe back to its former glory," he said. Mr Masanga said the Government paid the last batch of civil servants their July salaries on Saturday and pensioners and grant aided institutions will be paid on August 16.

He said grant aided organisations will also receive their 2015 bonuses on the same day. President Mugabe recently appealed to civil servants to be patient, saying the country was faced with an array of challenges that include illegal sanctions, drought as well as the use of the multi-currency system, mainly the US dollar that the country had little control over.

He said the Government would strive to ensure that the problem of delays in salary payments was addressed.