By Terrence Mawawa, Masvingo|Moneylenders are cashing in on desperate civil servants to peg astronomical rates during the festive season since government workers will only get their salaries after Christmas .
Many civil servants have been forced to borrow money for Christmas since they will only get their salaries on 28 December. There are unconfirmed reports Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa is likely to push the pay date for civil servants to January 5 . The development is likely to create further misery for the already hard-pressed government workers.
Moneylenders in Masvingo, Gutu and Bikita are charging as high as 50% interest per month and workers at the respective institutions have also confirmed there is incessant pressure from broke civil desperate to access cash for Christmas shopping.
“We are really struggling to cope with the demand for cash. We are even receiving bribes in order to process their applications quickly.
The government workers have no option but to come to us since they can only get their salaries three days after Christmas. We will also work on Christmas day which is unusual. Some of the civil servants are paying bribes ranging from $5 to $10 dollars,” said a Gutu based moneylender.
Stephen Mudereri a PTUZ representative for Masvingo condemned the pathetic living conditions for teachers and the rest of the government workers who have been reduced to beggars as they continue to suffer under President Robert Mugabe’s administration.
While civil servants are jostling for loans, Mugabe and his wife Grace are currently out of the country for the nonegenarian’s annual leave ..