State security operatives reportedly pounced on Progressive
Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) leader, Takavafira Zhou’s office on Thursday
last week following reports of his involvement in the planned national
shutdown.
The majority of PTUZ members across the country are
reportedly boycotting classes citing incapacitation, while the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions and the main opposition MDC party have threatened a
national shutdown protest over the deteriorating economy.
Unsettled by these developments, three Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) operatives pounced at Zhou’s offices in Masvingo, while
others called him from Kwekwe in a bid to thwart the impending shutdown.
“They were trying to the link teachers’ strike with threats
of a shutdown and we informed them that our struggle is a dispute with the
employer in which the employer unilaterally (devalued) teachers’ salaries from
US$500 to US$35. That is tantamount to unfair labour practice,” Zhou told
NewsDay on Saturday.
“I explained to the CIOs that the shutdown of shops is not
part of our agenda, but staying away from work because of incapacitation. They
also interrogated us on our 2014 banner, whose other writing thread demanded
‘accountability over diamonds and other minerals’ and I explained our
expectation of responsible leadership that should judiciously use minerals for
the benefit of all Zimbabweans as opposed to self-aggrandisement and economic
banditry.”
Zhou also revealed that police from the Central
Investigations Department (CID) contacted him over the stayaway by teachers in
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s hometown of Kwekwe.
“I also received a phone call from CID in Kwekwe, who
wanted to know why PTUZ teachers have not reported for work and I also
explained to them that teachers’ incapacitation was the modus operandi,” he
said.
Last year, Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
(Artuz) president Obert Masaraure was abducted by suspected CIO operatives, who
tortured him for leading a strike.
Zhou said he was still assessing the situation in order to
measure his safety.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul
Nyathi yesterday said he was not aware whether or not the police were
investigating Zhou as he was out of office.
“I am currently out of office as it is a weekend. I am,
therefore, unable to comment on that one because I can’t look for the facts at
the moment,” he said. Newsday
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