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Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume has urged government to pay council workers a living wage in United States Dollars.
Speaking during a State of the City Address in Harare Tuesday, Mafume said council is losing competent staff because of poor salaries.
“Labour issues are a problem for the City Council, we are losing competent staff to other cities outside the country. If you look at our Fire Brigade, the moment we finish training them they go to Middle East Countries where they can be paid better.
He added that City of Harare has the best training programs for the Fire Engine in the Southern Region but after training most youngsters migrate to the Middle East.
Mafume also highlighted that council salaries are very low and cannot motivate the remaining staff.
“We are paying in RTGS there is a clamber by the labour force that they need to be paid in US$, we have a situation where other central government have been able to give US$175 to its own civil servants, we are unable to do that because we are not charging in forex and we are not getting a grant in US from central government in forex.
“This is immoral and unhealthy that central government developed a solution for its own workers but they are the same very people who are mandated in dealing with the economy that is why earlier I said we need an interaction with the Minister of Finance.
“We are now hum struck as city council we do not know what to do with our suppliers and also our labour force because we do not have the flexibility to pay in foreign currency,” he said.
The Harare Mayor went on to say there are looking forward to a meeting that is a need of an urgent meeting to resolve the issue.
“We do not have the flexibility to keep charging the residents in forex, as well the Statutory Instrument are not clear, as this has a direct impact on our ability to return the staff and keep the staff that we have motivated to do their job.
“We need an urgent meeting as quickly as possible to look into the economic framework that we are operating under to see how we can move as council,” said Mafume
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