Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi yesterday assured Parliament that government was in the process to see civil servants salaries increased. He said that this was meant to cushion workers from the rising cost of living.
This comes at a time when leaders of the main teachers’ unions have petitioned Parliament demanding that Government immediately releases a teacher salary rescue package of US$200 on top of their RTGS salaries saying earnings have been eroded by inflation.
Ziyambi informed the Parliament that due to rising prices, the government was establishing people’s shops to cushion the citizenry. Norton MP Temba Mliswa then asked Ziyambi to explain how civil servants will afford to buy from those people’s shops given that their salaries were very low and did not match with the prices of goods. Ziyambi responded:
You are correct to say that, but government is in the process of negotiating with civil servants with a view to further increase their salaries. As to the private sector, indeed, it is worrisome that prices are going up, but employers are not giving their employees corresponding salary increases. What is happening is that prices of goods and services are going up yet salaries are stagnant, but soon we will have a salary structure to cushion civil servants.
Earlier this year, the government increased salaries of civil servants by a mere $28 for the lowest paid worker. The unrelenting inflation has since rendered the increment useless
-Newsday
