Zimbabwe Civil Servants Pay Dates Deal

July 22, 2016
Felex Share Senior Reporter
Zimbabwe Herald

Government yesterday unveiled July pay dates for civil servants, which will see most of them getting paid by the end of this month.

The development brought some relief in the civil service and is a damper for shadowy groups and opposition parties that sought to use Government workers to boost their protests.

Members of the Zimbabwe National Army and Air Force will get their salaries on Monday, followed by those in the health sector on July 27.

Prison officers and members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police will get their dues on July 29, while the education sector will be paid on August 2.

The rest of the civil service will be paid on August 6, with pensioners expected to get their payouts on August 12.

Staff in grant aided institutions will be paid on August 16.

Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira said grant aided institutions would get their 2015 bonuses combined with their salaries.

She also said Government had pardoned civil servants who took part in a three-day industrial action early this month in protest over delays in salary payments.

“This time there was a significant improvement in pay dates from the previous month,” Minister Mupfumira said.

“It is our hope as Government that as revenue collection improves, we will revert to our traditional pay dates where civil servants would receive their salaries within the month worked.

“Government is currently facing cash flow challenges, but it is committed to meeting its obligation of paying civil servants on time.”

There was much anxiety in the civil service after Government last month deferred June salary payments for some workers.

The move saw teachers getting their salaries on July 7, nurses a day later while the rest of the civil service got paid on July 13.

Minister Mupfumira said illegal industrial action had no place in Government as the employer would invoke the ‘no work-no pay principle’.

“Government will not take punitive measures on those who participated in the July stayaway early this month,” she said

“We will not deduct any salaries but I would like to warn that in future such actions will not be tolerated and Government will not hesitate to apply the laws. Cabinet has already approved this position.”

Civil servants, Minister Mupfumira said, should adopt the culture of using plastic money in the wake of cash challenges facing the country.

“The call by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor (Dr John Mangudya) on the issue of plastic money and acceptance of other currencies in circulation should be emphasised and your buy-in is requested.”

Speaking after meeting Minister Mupfumira on the pay dates yesterday, Apex Council team leader Mrs Cecilia Alexander commended Government for bringing forward the dates.

“As workers we appreciate that there has been a movement on the part of Government in terms of the delay period. We are going to continue pressing Government through dialogue to ensure the situation returns to normalcy in the near future, hopefully in August.”

On the prioritisation of the payment of the health sector, Zimbabwe Nurses Association secretary-general Mr Enock Dongo said: “It is a welcome development and Government now realises the importance of the health sector.

“We urge them to keep on prioritising critical sectors. We don’t want to see a situation where next month there will be changes. On our part, Government has met our demands and thumps up for that.”

Government is directing more than $200 million towards salaries, a situation which is unsustainable.

To reduce the wage bill, the civil service is being rationalised with a number of cost cutting measures being put in place.