Civil servants staged a flash protest on Monday, 14 July, at the New Government Complex, marching to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion to demand salary increases in the upcoming mid-term budget.
The members of the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (ZCPSTU) voiced concern over six months without a salary review amid soaring inflation.
Teachers’ unions and school heads joined the demonstration, citing the erosion of their wages by inflation, which rose to 92.5% in June.
The protesters were demanding that Finance Minister Mthuli Ncubeaddress public sector salaries in his fiscal policy update.
Although Ncube was reportedly away, the protesters met Deputy Minister Kudakwashe Mnangagwa.
Speaking to NewsDay after the march, ZCPSTU Secretary-General David Dzatsunga said the delegation conveyed growing frustration and called for immediate intervention to restore workers’ purchasing power. He said:
We wanted to deliver our plea to the government that the mid-term budget should include the cost-of-living adjustment.
We believe that we received the audience that we wanted and we presented our case.
We hope that it will yield the results that we want — that the government will consider.
We cannot say we have succeeded, but we are hopeful since we have received audience.
We don’t want a situation like that of last year, where there was no provision for a salary increment.
We have been promised that the relevant government organs, the Ministry of Labour, Public Service Commission and the Treasury, are seized with the matter and we will see how they are going to deal with it.
But we explained the urgency of the matter, because since September last year, we have not had a salary review.
Dzatsunga added that civil servants had also handed over a written statement to the government, detailing their grievances and outlining expectations ahead of the upcoming mid-term fiscal review.
Government and civil servant representatives typically engage through the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC), a forum that convenes quarterly.
However, the council is yet to meet in 2025, further fueling frustration among public sector workers.
More: NewsDay
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