via Govt admits it’s technically broke – Southern Eye by Gamma Mudarikiri 25 November 2013
THE government has admitted it is technically broke and will not be able to sustain the $540 minimum wage proposed by civil servants unions owing to the declining government revenue as the economy continues to dampen, an official has said.
In an interview with Southern Eye Business on the sidelines of a labour briefing held at a hotel in Bulawayo last Friday, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare deputy minister Tongai Muzenda said the government was not in a position to pay civil servants a minimum wage of $540 due to the persistent harsh economic condition.
Muzenda said the government was still in negotiations with civil servants’ unions, adding that negotiating wages based on the poverty datum line (PDL) would not be sustainable as the government was cash-strapped with declining revenue and the contracting fiscal space.
“We haven’t started negotiations on the actual amount civil servant salaries will get next year,” Muzenda said.
“Negotiating wages at this point based on PDL is not sustainable as the government has no money and even if civil servants could be paid such an amount it would put pressure on the private sector which is also struggling,” he added.
Workers’ unions representing civil servants have been pushing government to raise public workers’ salaries to a minimum of $540 in line with the PDL.
The new Zanu PF government had promised improving civil servant salaries with critics, however, saying the government had no money to finance such a huge wage bill with the dampening economy evident by the prevalent financial squeeze.
The economy is expected to slow down to 3,4% next year with the depressed industry capacity which plunged to 39%.
Companies are downsizing and retrenching sending thousands on the streets unemployed.
Muzenda said because of the prevalent harsh economic conditions from the period between January to September this year,
1 560 workers have been retrenched compared to 1 632 recorded in the same period the previous year.
“The manufacturing sector is the worst affected as the country continues to rely on imported materials thereby affecting viability of local manufactures,” Muzenda said.
“Despite all these problems faced by employers, workers have expectations. They are expecting their salaries to be reviewed above the PDL of which the labour market cannot afford,” he added.
Muzenda said workers were going for months without pay adding that in 2014, industry and the government must come with permanent solutions to the problems.
“The government is trying to create a conducive environment by improving labour legislation,” Muzenda said.
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COMMENTS
Factories are rust buckets. Fertile farms wastelands. Cities ghettos. Briefcase businessman and tuckshop vendors the commerce. Starving sick angry desperate forlorn families humiliated. If I was a zanu gandanga I should be afraid very afraid. The day of xxxxxxxxx is nigh and sadly bloodshed beckons. A new prosperous dawn is possible inevitable once the enemy breathes no more. Watch this space
THAT CANT BE TRUE!!! IS TENDAI BITI BACK AS FINANCE MINISTER!!!!! CALL HIM BACK IF YOU WANT FINANCIAL SANITY TO PREVAIL!!
u can rig the election but u can never rig the economy. Tongai tione!!!!!!
The economy is a shadow of its former self and yet the bloated bueracracy continues to swallow just about every tax dollar earned, these clowns couldn’t run a p..s up in a brewery (the beer would all be stolen by the chef!).
What are the ministries managing anyway, if there is no economy?!
i dont think they even have a brewery to not run a piss up in . i think all the beer is imported from sa nowdays and someones stolen the copper and sold it to china..
Koinga ma civil servants, Biti aikuudzai wani. Majongwe tipe tinzwe ndiwe wakati Maakuzobhdharwa nemazimari. Ichooooooooooooooo.
The Government has shot itself in the foot on many occassions but by promoting unrealistic policies in this Global village does show their inability to run anything. Coffers can only grow If
employment was sustainable.
Industry revived as a priority and the list goes on.
Policies that are meant to chase away investors wont help this occuring.
Pamberi nejongwe. Plenty promises but no money. People need those sort of wages to survive but in its present state the Govt cannot and will never raise that sort of revenue. Those civil servants are the only guys who have jobs so their 25% tax is not going to turn back into 100% wage next month. Eish, soon NO sadza and NO point.
fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me they deserve everything coming their way how can you be told the same lie every 5 yrs and believe it still aaaaaaaagh ndonzwa hasha mhani
So it means we needed to agree when Biti said it before that there is no money
ZANU people where are you? Why the deafening silence? As time moves on even you will wake up and smell the coffee unless you are one of the few who has managed to lot enough to go for medical attention outside the country, send your kinds to Western countries you loth so much in public, import food, water electricity etc. Unless you are so heartless so much so that you enjoy seeing even your less fortunate relative die of a simple disease such as cholera then the time will could to call your party what it is and has been for the past 33 years, predatory and not worth the mandate to run a tuck-shop let alone a country’s economy. Pamberi nenhanho!
What cars are MPs driving? Sell them and direct the revenue for better use. Yekupa ma evil servant ndiyo isipo nhai, asi yema porsh munayo zvenyu.
Ko zvamaiti Biti arikuramba nemari wani? Now ua in control ipai vashandi mari yairambirwa naBiti
and so the chickens will come home to roost. jongwe you have created this mess and this mess is going to sort you out. once shop shelves start to empty again…the drums will beat louder. reap what you sow!!!
Ko mari yemadiamonds iripi nhai vedu.
Why should Biti get involved unless he is another sellout? We gave them mandate to govern and sort out our economy.We should not complain because we reap what we have sown.If the civil servants believed all the promises said before the elections ,then they have themselves to blame.
Zanu pf has nothing to offer but hardships.When everthing starts to fall down they start to blame the oppossition,the west and even Ian Smith juss wait and see.If they cant afford to pay minimum wage which is already peanuts according to the standard of living haa matimadii muchasura chando ndimi makavhota isu kuno tiri bhoo ka one tichauya kana zvanaka.
How can a country so wealthy be broke ???? where are all the dimonds and minnerals going ??? What has happend to the most productive farm land in Africa ?? Why dose Zanu and top polititions live like kings in the lap of luxury ?? And were are we going as a Country….can we wait till 2016
Civil servants must not accept any thing below the PDL. The MPS and ZANU PF are having plenty goodies, there is no way Mugabe’s party can tell them they are broke. Last year with view of deceiving the very civi servants’ money was released from unknown source. They should jus make space ungovernable and demand resignation of Mugabe if he can not pay them. He would have failed so why wait for another 5 years and get another lie.
We will never get anywhere in terms of the so called salary increment.why? because of the greedness among the so called leaders of the civil servants associations.just a few weeks back they were fighting amongst themselves.The problem mainly is the so called Zimta who think they have all the answers when in actual fact they are cowards who cannot confont the powers that be head on.they are living off the suffering of the majority of teachers promising them heaven on earth but delivering zilch.what a farce.
Maimboti Biti haadi nemari iyezvinhu moti gvt is broke so biti telling the and you were lying shame vapei mari makati munayo from Diamonds
I hear from the corridors of power that mugabe wants to reintroduce the zim dollar, pay off all the debt and run the fiscal obligations from the reserve bank, then bring in MDC again for another relief.
Smart leader.
Ngatinamatei kuti at least vapihwe mweya wokutya Mwari.
That will breed wisdom.
These ZanuPf chaps are just hopeless.Teachers have been abused and used to rig as partners look at it. The system has collapsed just stop teaching until the situation is resolved you have been used enough by Bob nomukadzi wake.
Its hand 2 mouth,,diamonds 4 arms,,,my fellow Zimbabweans is Der a war coming,,,,how can u build a swimming pool with no possibility of water supply,,useless leaders,,ndivo vananzvengamutsvairo chaivo