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US$500 For Dead Civil Servants: Desperation Or Genuine Concern?
“Starting immediately, government will pay an equivalent US$500 in funeral assistance for any civil servant who passes on. This is regardless of any funeral policy the member may have. The money is paid to a surviving spouse, adult children or agreed dependent,” came the thunderous announcement from the government of Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa,
With calls for government to close schools and send ZIMSEC exam classes home in order to prepare for an orderly and safe reopening in January; Mnangagwa and his minions are getting desperate.
Almost all civil servants have declared incapacitation, except of course, for the uniformed forces, who can’t do so by law. But, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is battling to contain what it is calling “bogus/rogue cops”.
The police force has arrested hundreds of these in the last several months, yet the world is waking up to fresh news headlines involving either “rogue or bogus cops” every morning. Soldiers have also been running amok, teaming up with robbers to steal, extort and intimidate. It’s the WILD WILD WEST out there.
Perhaps this is how the uniformed forces are showing their incapacitation. That is how they showed their displeasure with their bosses in 2007/8 and that is how they are showing them now while teachers and others simply do not show up to work.
On the flip side, government is pushing the propaganda that all is well, the economy is on a massive rebound and ED has things under control. In reality though, those holding purse strings are so broke they want to entice civil servants using money that will be paid after they are dead.
Just where do they get these ideas from? Did a whole ministry, probably more than one, and their strategists sit down to make this decision? Is this supposed to make teachers go back to work? Are retirees being considered in this scheme? (They are probably the ones that need the death compensation more). Would it even be sustainable?
This desperate offer is obviously a result of the chaotic situation in the civil service. Civil servants have been a pain in government’s neck for the better part of the year demanding improved salaries. However, the two parties have been unable to reach a compromise over the issue.
The government employees have borne the brunt of their employer’s unfulfilled promises, which range from duty-free vehicle purchase schemes, low cost housing and free stands among other non-monetary incentives. When will all these be availed to them? Perhaps the better question is, will they ever?
Already government is struggling to remit funds to medical aid institutions where civil servants make their subscriptions; how can they be trusted to come through when someone is dead? Civil servants themselves are pulling out of subscription-based funeral policies as they are draining their salaries.
Government has even tried threatening civil servants, particularly teachers, with unemployment. But teachers have laughed this off and yesterday, Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Raymond Majongwe labelled the latest move a “wise insult”.
In other words, the teachers are not buying it. They still want their US$520.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Peter Mutasa also had a few words concerning government’s “generous offer”. “Workers need better lives not better burials,” he said.
Apex Council spokesperson David Dzatsunga told the media that they welcomed the move but government has realised the importance of the United States dollar to improve the livelihood of civil servants.
“The fact that they are doing that (means they have) realised we need US dollars to get a decent burial, maybe they should also know that a US dollar salary, therefore, is important to get a decent living and they should start paying in US dollars.”
One social media user commented: “How bizarre, civil servants being paid that much when they die, yet being paid very little when they are alive. What message are you sending to civil servants; you are better dead than alive?”
Former deputy minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Dr Godfrey Gandawa said government has impoverished civil servants to the extent that they can no longer afford a funeral policy.
“It then pretends to be doing them an act of generosity by promising a US$500 funeral pay-out when they die. Government should stop these thoughtless gimmicks and work on real solutions,” Gandawa said.
So, is this move by government wise? Would it be better if government allocated them land or should they simply be paid their dues?
With government’s track record of broken promises, cushioning allowances that never reach intended beneficiaries and outright lies – can authorities even be trusted to release, at least timeously, this “death allowance”?
“Now that they have failed to address poverty, they are conspiring to exterminate us the poor. This nonsense stinks to high heavens. Pay us US$520 in our lifetime,” the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) lamented. Nhau/Indaba
