AS tension rises in the country while civil servants express frustration over low salaries and a difficult work environment, the government yesterday doled out US$150 to each of its workers, dubbed bonus, among other tokens.
In a statement, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare minister Edgar Moyo said the government remained committed to improving the welfare of civil servants and pensioners “as part of ongoing efforts to build a motivated and productive public service”.
Moyo announced the special presidential bonus, a “once-off” US$150 payment for every civil servant “to provide festive season relief and recognise dedicated service”.
It will be paid in two equal instalments of US$75 in November and December, “in addition to the regular annual bonus and salaries”.
Zimbabwe has a huge workforce numbering around 500 000, according to a 2022 report, comprising about 135 000 schoolteachers, approximately 51 000 military personnel, around 45 000 police officers, about 10 000 members of the Central Intelligence Organisation as well as those domiciled in government offices.
Moyo also announced that the Job Evaluation Remuneration Framework will be implemented in the first quarter of next year.
He also announced the restoration of the vehicle rebate scheme to 2022 benefit levels, “rewarding long service and commitment as reflected in Statutory Instrument 124 of 2022 with effect from December 1, 2025”.
Over the years, service providers have been complaining about the non-payment for services by government for its employees who are members of the Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) because of non-remission of funds, but government yesterday announced that they will be revitalising medical insurance by recapitalising PSMAS “to ensure sustainable access to quality healthcare for public servants”.
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Moyo also announced the home- ownership scheme as part of the non-monetary incentives, saying they had identified 26 000 housing stands: 20 000 in Harare and 6 000 in Bulawayo, “with further allocations planned across the country”.
Civil servants have been complaining about low salaries, saying their lives have been turned upside down as the government has chosen to ignore their pleas over the years.
This has seen a surge in staff turnover in the civil service, with reports suggesting that over 4 000 health workers have left the country for greener pastures.
In June, NewsDay reported that over 5 000 teachers quit the profession in 2023, according to the Primary and Secondary Education ministry, but unions representing the educators claimed the figure was understated.
They said over 15 000 teachers quit the profession in frustration over poor working conditions.
The educators are at loggerheads with their employer demanding a return to at least US$540 which they earned before October 2018.
At present, they earn an average of US$250 per month and around ZiG3 000.
Political analysts say the promises are meant to dilute war veteran Blessed “Bombshell” Geza’s calls for protests today against plans to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term of office to 2030.
Geza early this week called for a million-men march to be held today to stop Zanu PF from implementing the controversial resolution as the ruling party’s succession politics reach crescendo.
Zanu PF is meeting in Mutare for its annual conference, which kicks off today, with indications that plans to extend Mnangagwa’s term of office will be ratified.
The ruling party first resolved to implement the 2030 agenda at its annual conference in Bulawayo last year despite fierce resistance from party structures and long-suffering ordinary citizens.
The 2030 agenda has left the party divided along factional lines.
Mnangagwa has denied interest in the 2030 agenda, but reports indicate plans to even further extend his term to 2035.
A few weeks ago, Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga presented a dossier at a politburo meeting detailing the 2030 plot and grand corruption among the well-connected persons amid collapsing service delivery.
He also called for the arrest of Zanu PF benefactors and tenderpreneurs Wicknell Chivayo, Kudakwashe Tagwirei and Pedzai “Scott” Sakupwanya, accusing them of causing the suffering of the masses through alleged unbridled graft.
But on Wednesday this week, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, who is also the Zanu PF secretary for legal affairs, countered the claims in this week’s politburo session, arguing that they were based on fiction.
Geza, who has called for today’s protest, yesterday rallied citizens to participate in his one-million march to stop the 2030 agenda and fight corruption.
“The grave allegations presented by Vice-President Chiwenga were a constitutional alarm bell and a final plea to rescue the nation from the jaws of a predatory cartel,” Geza said in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter).
“The regime’s response, which was presented by Ziyambi Ziyambi, was a deliberate and contemptuous rejection of that plea.
“The evidence is now incontrovertible and the grand looting witnessed in broad daylight ...
“This blatant disregard for the serious issues that Vice-President Chiwenga raised is a direct and unforgivable insult to every citizen of Zimbabwe.”
In March, Geza called for national protests against Mnangagwa, which turned out to be a national shutdown, shaking the government to its core.
The March 31 national shutdown forced the Zanu PF 2030 agenda supporters to temporarily dump the controversial plot to extend Mnangagwa’s term of office until recently.
Addressing a Press conference yesterday, Zanu PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa rubbished Chiwenga’s dossier and threw his support behind Tagwirei, Chivayo and others whom the VP said should be arrested for graft.
“The politburo refused to be part of a kangaroo court for Chiwenga ... the party is definitely not a competent institution under the constitution to accuse people of corruption and condemn them,” he said.
“We are dealing with people who simply do not want to work by rules of the party, by the Constitution of the country.
“They cannot wait for the day to have people choose whom they want, and they think that they are entitled ...
“These are (distractions) attempted to affect the conference.”
Opposition People’s Progressive Party of Zimbabwe (PPPZ) leader Timothy Mapfumo Chiguvare urged Zimbabweans to reject the 2030 agenda.
“It’s unrealistic; the situation in the country will force us to have elections soon ... people are suffering economically and socially,” he said in an interview.
Zanu PF director for information Farai Marapira said in response: “These are fly past opposition parties which are looking for relevance.
“Zanu PF has empowered everyone in the country.”
