Stories

Teachers want $1 000 a month- Zimbabwe’s teachers were today reported to be seeking salaries of at least US$1 000 a month. They currently earn between $300 and $480 per month but the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe says a food basket for an average family of five now costs $540 a month. In December civil servants were reported to be demanding a minimum wage of US$543 which is in line with the poverty datum line. Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said in his 2014 budget that the government will raise the salaries of civil servants to the current poverty datum line but this would be staggered to leave room for continued funding of government operations. The government will also improve the welfare of civil servants through the provision of non-monetary benefits in such areas as housing.

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Civil servants will know their fate on Wednesday when the government and their representatives meet to negotiate their new salary structure.

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The Movement for Democratic Change today called for fresh elections saying that the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front which won harmonised elections less than six months ago has failed.

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“The poor cannot sleep, because they are hungry,” the Nigerian economist Sam Aluko famously said in 1999, “and the rich cannot sleep, because the poor are awake and hungry.” We are all affected by deep disparities of income and wealth, because the political and economic system on which our prosperity depends cannot continue enriching some while it impoverishes others.

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The price of platinum for February went up by US$4.80 following news that Zimbabwe had given mining companies until 18 January to submit proposals for establishing a refinery in the country.

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Zimbabwe now has more telephone subscribers than its population. There are now 13.52 million subscribers while the population is estimated at 13.06 million- a mobile penetration rate of 103.5 percent.

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Indigenisation, the platform on which President Robert Mugabe won 61 percent of the vote last year and his party won more than two-thirds majority in Parliament, is likely to leave Zimbabweans poorer, according to a study just released.

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In Zimbabwe, the end of Robert Mugabe’s leadership of both his political party and the country is fast approaching. Ahead of the party’s congress in December 2014, where a new leadership is expected to be elected, pretenders to his throne have been taking advantage of his diminished resistance due to advanced age and failing health to openly position themselves for the succession.

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Zimbabwe’s platinum miners have been given 10 days- up to 18 January- to submit proposals for the establishment of a refinery in the country.

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Why no cash- Zimbabwe has found an easy scapegoat for the current cash shortage in the country. Foreign business owners, who have to comply with the country’s indigenisation regulations by today, are not banking their proceeds and do not pay tax. According to the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board, at least 90 percent of the foreign businesses that had applied for compliance with the indigenisation laws do not have bank accounts. They are also not registered with the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority. NIEEB chief executive Wilson Gwatiringa said: “This means they are not paying tax and that their money is not being accounted for in the banking system.” Some 800 foreign-owned companies are said to have applied for compliance. Reports have said as much as US$4 billion is circulating outside the formal banking system, in Zimbabwe.

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