Felex Share Herald Reporter
FINANCE Minister Tendai Biti yesterday snubbed civil servants and denied them access to his offices to hand over a petition outlining their grievances.

The workers, led by the Apex Council leaders, however, managed to hand over the petition to Clerk of Parliament Mr Austin Zvoma at Parliament Building.
In their petition, the Government workers implored the legislators not to pass Minister Biti’s Mid-Term Policy statement.

Mr Zvoma received the petition on behalf of Senate President Mrs Edna Madzongwe and the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Lovemore Moyo.
Accepting the petition, Mr Zvoma said: “I accept the petition and I am going to hand it over to the respective persons as per your request.”

The workers are demanding an all-inclusive salary of US$564 for the least paid worker and 15 percent of the basic salary as rural allowance.
The least paid Government worker is getting US$296.

Addressing legislators in Parliament yesterday on civil servants’ demonstration, Minister Biti said he did not have resources at his offices.
“Politics is 80 percent of the disease we have in this country and another disease is the assumption that money grows on trees. Everyone else says it’s on the

Ministry of Finance, but nobody has ever stopped to ask themselves where does this money come from? Is there anywhere that money grows at Block B at the New Government Building? Do we have a cow where we milk money from at our offices?” he said.
Minister Biti said for as long as the economy was growing slowly, as it was at the moment, it would take long to achieve rates of at least US$650 per capita recommended by the World Bank as above the Poverty Datum Line.

Also see

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• No joy for civil servants as Biti slashes budget 10pc

Earlier on the placard-wielding workers were blocked from entering Minister Biti’s offices by security guards who insisted they were under strict instruction from the administration.

“We have been instructed not to let anyone in by the minister's office . . . although you are accompanied by the police there is nothing we can do,” one security guard said.

Outgoing Apex Council chairperson, Mrs Tendai Chikowore, said Minister Biti had treated them as “terrorists” instead of workers.
“We are not here to be violent but just to air our grievances to the person who handles the country’s finances. Sadly, the minister is treating us like terrorists yet we are public servants whom he pretends to represent in Government.

“He has ignored us the way he does when formulating his budgets. It means to him the issue of workers does not matter. We are not going to take this lightly and as we map the way forward we are going to consider his attitude,” he said.
In the petition, the workers said Minister Biti had become the first minister to deny them a salary increment this year.

“Since independence, 2012 is the first time in the history of labour in the public sector that Government only reviews workers'’allowances and fails to raise their salaries.

“Civil servants cannot understand why they continue to be paid salaries below the poverty datum line with no effort by Government to progressively move the salaries towards the poverty datum line levels, which in economics are regarded as moving targets,” read part of the petition.
Teachers Union of Zimbabwe chief executive, Mr Manuel Nyawo and Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Raymond

Majongwe, said levels of arrogance displayed by Minister Biti could not be tolerated.
Said Mr Nyawo: “He is closing down all communication but he is going to regret his actions. A public minister should not hide from the workers.
“It simply shows that he is not the ideal person for the job because we have never seen such a minister in the past.”

Added Mr Raymond Majongwe: “It pains that he does not want to meet us. He does not even want to hear our input in his budget consultations but one day the chickens will come home to roost.”

Apex Council brings together the Public Service Association, Zimbabwe Teachers Association, Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, Teachers Union of Zimbabwe and the College Lecturers Association of Zimbabwe.

The demonstration was almost scuttled after Mr Muyaradzi Gwisai and his International Socialist Organisation, joined the protest march at the behest of Mr Majongwe.
This angered some union leaders, who felt that outsiders had hijacked their agenda.

Mr Nyawo challenged Mr Majongwe why he invited Mr Gwisai: “ . . . Majongwe, why this political interference? Is that what we planned.”
Responded Mr Majongwe: “ . . . That is absolutely nonsense Nyawo . . . Anyone is free to join the march . . . This is not the platform to ask me such questions.”
Mr Gwisai was distributing some flyers encouraging the people to emulate the Egyptian and Tunisian mass uprisings that resulted in regime change in both countries.