The government has given a 100 percent Zimbabwean dollar-salary increment to civil servants, legislators, independent commissions and state pensioners.
The cushioning and Covid allowance goes up from US$200 to US$250. Pensioners will get US$100 cushioning and Covid allowance, up from US$90.
The increment mean a teacher currently earning an average of ZW$40 000 (US$33) a month, will now get about ZW$80 000 (US$66). This added to US$250 cushioning and the US$80 teaching allowances = US$396.
The Zimdollar-salary increment is with effect from 1 February for the security sector and 1 April for the rest of the civil service. The new allowances are with effect from 1 March (security sector) and 1 April (rest of public sector workers).
Teachers will get a US$80 teaching allowance which the government says is an improvement to the school fees policy “which discriminated against those teachers with no biological children”. Civil servants are now entitled to free primary education for a maximum of 3 children.
Meanwhile, according to critics, the increment coming few months before elections is President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa’s ploy to please government workers.
Civil servants, particularly teachers and nurses have been up in arms with government for long, amid allegations that members of the country’s security forces were getting preferential treatment.
For some, this has still been exhibited by how the government backdated salary increment for security sector to February and April for the rest of civil servants.
Zwnews
