adminIn this pen’s mind, therefore, Cde Charamba’s remarks imply that no additional load should be piled up on 2012 but should instead be directed to the negotiating table as a pathway to resolve any other contentious issues, be they in governmental, parastatal, civic or private institutions.
In the matter in point, after a warning one-day strike last week, the civil servants might not have embarked on a five-day industrial action from Monday had the parties concerned stayed on at the negotiating table however wide their differences.
Regrettably, however, an apparent indifference to the need for both sides to keep their heads together, as shown by the Government’s representative in Mrs Lucia Matibenga, also Minister of the Public Service, incensed the civil servants who had hitherto appeared patient enough, to lose their cool and trust in the minister, resulting in the longer work stoppage.
After failing as earlier promised to meet the civil servants to present the Government’s position on salaries that are the bone of contention, the minister was quoted in this newspaper on 18 January as saying: “I am not willing to discuss anything with anyone anytime soon or whenever.”
Surely, such a remark at such a delicate period of negotiations will appear to a right thinking person as nothing short of a snub and public servants are right thinking people; otherwise they would not be in schools producing tomorrow’s leaders and discharging equally important duties in government offices across the state.
In light of this, this pen is humbly persuaded to suggest that leaders whose attitude is averse to mediating conflicts to the sweet or bitter end, as the case might be, and who also display an attitude bordering on the insensitive, should be kept away from the negotiating table and be replaced by those who regard the other side as equal partners, however riddled the road they walk might be.
Indeed, the economic path that Zimbabwe is walking is riddled by illegal western sanctions that have resulted in company closures and loss of jobs to thousands of workers with those still employed in commerce and industry living from hand to mouth, like lowly paid civil servants among those who struck this week for better pay.
That being the case, our loyal civil servants should also take cognisance of the economic hardships the country is facing because of inadequate funds, and not behave as though they live in an oasis in a desert. Of course, their demands for a reasonable reward for their labour is as genuine as can be, but they have to raise their heads buried in the sand of their grievances to realise that in no way has their employer the magic wand to harvest money from trees to redress their plight.
Be that as it may, the employer should not conceal any of its cards on the negotiating table.
The civil servants are most likely to moderate their demands if shown the skeletal position of the fiscus at this moment in time.
No, this pen does not in any way suggest that finance Minister Mr Tendai Biti should mount the rooftop and publish a measly balance in the kitty to all and sundry. Alas, any information exposing the country’s weak economic state can only inspire those baying and salivating for Zimbabwe’s liver to do their damnedest to try to bring the Government down.
But by the same token, Treasury should not withhold from the civil servants the country’s true financial position and then run helter-skelter when the fire starts raging to draw water in perforated cans in a bid to extinguish the conflagration.
That is what happens now when Mr Biti rushes to the United States government asking it to rescind the sanctions it has imposed on diamond mining companies in Zimbabwe in a bid to make our economy ‘scream’ and hopefully cause the regime change that the Americans and the British and their cousins in continental Europe are dying to effect in this country in their desperate attempt to remove Zanu-PF and President Mugabe from power in preference for those in the inclusive government whom the imperialists fondly kiss.
Minister Biti represents MDC-T which Americans back in the coalition government. And that party invited the imposition of sanctions which some MDC-T leaders have publicly said they still support.
As such, it will surprise many in this country and elsewhere should obdurate America not dismiss Mr Biti’s letter as a mere smokescreen but instead grant his wish and the wish of the rest of Zimbabweans for revenue from sales of diamonds to start rolling in without let or hindrance.
Therefore, the response by Washington to Biti’s request being unmistakably predictable, it is logical and imperative given the mounting pressure on the Government by public servants for a handsome pay packet, for those at the forefront of generating revenue to bust the evil American embargo on the sales of our God-given diamonds while at the same time searching for markets for the gems in friendly countries.
No aorta of energy should be spared in our determination to stop those antagonistic towards Zimbabwe and who behave as though they were the devil incarnate, for the fallen singer Lucifer is a spoiler par excellent.
While we are at it, Zimbabweans need to be warned of manifold, negative effects that any more strikes, legally sanctioned or wildcat, will bring to bear on the overloaded back of the current year.
To begin with, any further boycott of work, or work to rule by teachers, in particular, could embitter parents whose children fail to derive maximum benefits for the hard earned cash in the form of fees. And who knows the parents might offload their anger on the Government via the referendum or the elections expected later in the year.
Voters might lump leaders and their party in the inclusive Government who sympathise with the civil servants’ plight with those callous leaders who pretend to also sympathise with the civil servants.
Should the South African government not stay its reported decision to seek undocumented Zimbabwean migrant workers and others residents in that country, the returnees might avenge their expulsion by venting their anger on the smooth running of the referendum and the elections due sometime this year.
But well this pen does not question South Africa’s prerogative in controlling influxes of aliens to that country except that as a peace maker in Zimbabwe, by way of facilitating interparty harmony South Africa should avoid taking any measures that might undo or frustrate her success in that Sadc-mandated role.
The period ahead for Zimbabwe certainly calls for restraint and understanding when situations provoke confrontations and therefore for a climate of peace and stability, as our people shape their destiny in the face of the country’s enemies.
Online Reporter