TEACHERS and civil servants have scoffed at an announcement
by Finance minister Mthuli Ncube that his austerity measures will result in
civil servants getting a bonus before year-end, saying his statement was an
insult.
Using his social media account, Ncube made the announcement
on bonuses.
“Civil servants to get bonus thanks to austerity: Mthuli,”
he announced on social media without giving details.
The statement, however, attracted scorn from Progressive
Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PUTZ) secretary-general Raymond Majongwe, who said
the minister should stop propagating falsehoods.
“For the past 38 years, civil servants have been getting a
bonus save for just one year. To want to make the nation believe that we are
getting a bonus because of austerity is not only misleading, but dangerous. He
wants us to glorify a tool that is behind our suffering, as if we have ever
failed to get a bonus,” Majongwe told NewsDay.
The PTUZ said given the poor salaries the civil service was
getting and the price increases which always jump every time civil servants are
awarded salary increases, the bonus will be a curse for many.
“What bonus? That statement by the minister is an
understatement. In fact, for us, it’s going to be the reason of our suffering.
It’s a punishment. That bonus is a curse. It will worsen our plight because
every service provider will be increasing prices tracking the bonus that will be
paid and the civil servants will be worse off,” Manjongwe said.
Former Finance minister and MDC deputy president, Tendai
Biti, said Ncube needed a mental medical examination to determine his state of
mind.
“The Professor is mad. He needs mental examination. He
can’t say thanks to austerity he will be paying bonus when civil servants were
actually getting bonuses all along,” Biti said.
He added that the bonus payments would amount to nothing
for the long suffering workers in Zimbabwe.
“There is no bonus as long as he is paying them in devalued
local currency. It’s nothing. If you add nothing to nothing, you get nothing.
The only way to adequately compensate workers is to pay them in US dollar. You
can’t pay people inflation,” Biti said.
“The salaries of civil servants has been devalued by over
90%, thanks to runaway exchange rate, runaway inflation. The only way is to go
back to the multi-currency regime. We need to close the RBZ (Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe) because all they have been doing is printing money, generating money
supply without productivity, thereby fuelling inflation.”
Said Information secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana: “To alleviate
the current challenges faced by civil servants, the bonus will be calculated on
the total package that is including allowances. Bonuses will be paid in
November and December.” Newsday
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