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. Chronicle
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