Editorial Comment: Workers must appreciate Govt efforts

WE welcome the decision by government to pay civil servants bonuses this year and hope that the move will motivate the country’s biggest workforce to deliver. Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa told parliamentarians attending a pre-budget consultative conference in Victoria Falls on Thursday last week that civil servants would this year get their annual bonus without any hassles with government already mobilising resources towards the payment which is usually staggered between November and December.

Minister Chinamasa said the 13th cheque would be paid despite government collecting little revenue. He said his biggest headache at the moment was to mobilise resources not only to pay salaries, but bonuses because our revenue collection has been below target. Chinamasa said up to September they received revenue of $2,7 billion against a target of $2,8 billion while they were still receiving new claims of government indebtedness that they were still examining how they were acquired and their authenticity.

We applaud government for rewarding its large workforce and feel it has set a good example for the private sector to emulate. Zimbabwe’s economy is still to recover with the country’s economic blueprint — the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation yet to bear fruit.

The manufacturing sector is yet to achieve full capacity utilisation with some companies which were forced to shut down during the hyperinflationary era still to reopen. However, government has clinched some lucrative deals with China and Russia which are expected to unlock the country’s economic potential. The mega deals coupled with revenue from diamonds and tobacco could kick start the economic revival.

The future therefore looks bright and government’s decision to pay bonuses is a confidence booster for the economy. Associations representing civil servants have welcomed government’s decision to pay them the 13th cheque at a time when most companies are struggling to pay their workers’ salaries. The associations, however, want government to give priority to the provision of non-monetary benefits for its workers as the paying of bonuses to civil servants was traditional and largely expected. They said they would only celebrate when the government has honoured all its promises to its workers.

Public Service Association president Cecilia Alexander said as much as they appreciated government’s efforts to pay civil servants bonuses, they felt shortchanged because government was yet to fulfill its other promises. “We’ve just learnt about the payment of bonuses but it’s nothing to celebrate. The government is obligated to pay its workers bonuses every year. It’s part of the conditions and it’s expected to be done. We want to appeal for engagement with government. We made submissions but no discussions have taken place so far. The year is coming to an end and not much has been done for the workers,” said Alexander.

Zimta chief executive officer, Sifiso Ndlovu, said: “We’ll not celebrate the bonuses because we were expecting them. The government is obliged to pay us bonuses every year. We were going to be surprised if the government had failed or expressed unwillingness to do so. We, however, want to know when exactly the bonuses are coming for budgeting purposes. We’re more concerned about non-monetary benefits that the government promised civil servants. Up to now we have not met to address this issue.”

Ndlovu added: “We want the government to address all our concerns, which include housing, debunching of workers, as well as pension reforms at least before the end of the year.”

While we are aware of civil servants’ concerns about non-monetary benefits, we feel they should appreciate the efforts being made by government to address their welfare. Zimbabwe is going through a tight liquidity crunch and the fact that government has managed to pay its workforce salaries every month without fail is in itself a miracle.

We therefore implore civil servants to bear with government as it moves to improve their conditions of service.