Ashley Kondo
The cost of living for most Zimbabweans has continued on an upward trend since the beginning of the year, amid economic challenges bedevilling the country.
Civil servants have not been spared by the harsh economic environment as they struggle to make ends meet.
Cognisant of the economic hardships that have affected many including civil servants, Government availed a cushioning allowance for civil servants for a consecutive three months from January 2019.
However, it was not long before the cushioning was rendered meaningless as calls for a salary increment became widely pronounced.
It can be observed that civil servants’ salaries continued to be eroded owing sky-rocketing pricesof basic goods and services which are beyond the reach of many.
On their part, businesses have cited foreign currency shortages as the major justification of the price hikes.
They (business) claim that they have to source foreign currency for purchasing raw materials needed for production from the black market where the exchange rates are relatively high and ever changing when compared to the inter-bank market.
Consequently, most businesses recently resorted to pegging the prices of their goods and services in United States (US) dollar terms and some analysts have argued that this was evidence of the economy dollarizing itself.
Nevertheless, civil servants’ salaries remain denominated in local trading value, the RTGS dollars, whose exchange rate against the US dollar continues to rise steeply on a daily basis to the disadvantage of most civil servants.
Against the foregoing, latest calls for a salary increment from the civil servants are not surprising.
A comparison of Zimbabwean civil servants with their regional counterparts from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa reveals that the former is earning far much lesser in remuneration.
South African high school teachers earn an average of US$1 062 per month depending on qualifications and experience, while in Namibia the highest paid teacher gets an average of US$1 536.
The same teacher in Botswana gets about US$705 per month.
In Botswana nurses at entry level earn between US$806 and US$906 and those who hold academic degrees earn between US$1 108 and US$1 309.
Government doctors in South Africa earn an average monthly salary of US$3 582 per month.
In Namibia, doctors earn an estimated US$3120 per month with Zimbabwean doctors getting about US$729 net salary per month.
Registered nurses in South Africa earn an average of US$1 575 per month.
There is no doubt that civil servants have remained resolute in executing their duties in the mix of changing socio-economic factors and this is commendable.
Moving forward, there is need for all parties to interrogate all the underlying variables and implications before reaching a remuneration agreement in order to balance between austerity and basic living conditions.
It may be recalled that, there has been a lot of debate over the country’s wage bill which has been criticised for chewing over 80 percent of the National Budget.
For long the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have called on Zimbabwe to cut its wage bill, while redirecting the finances towards productive sectors of the economy and infrastructural development.
No doubt, since his appointment, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Professor Mthuli Ncube, has made tremendous strides in bringing down Zimbabwe’s wage and expenditure bill in line with the Bretton wood institutions recommendations.
This has partially been made possible through the restructuring which saw the abolition of some posts and trimming of staff across Government structures.
The introduction of the two percent tax also saw Government increase its revenue inflows, among other components of the Transitional Stabilisation Program (TSP) which is meant to satisfy fundamentals for the establishment of a functional and prosperous economy.
Most of these fundamentals will cause temporary pain to the citizens, especially the worker, but are necessary for rebuilding the country’s economy.
.
