Teachers Blast Mthuli Ncube
24 May 2022
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Teachers’ unions on Sunday expressed anger over Finance and Economic Minister Mthuli Ncube’s claims that the Government has done a lot to improve teachers’ conditions of service.

Last week Ncube told Parliament that teachers were never paid US$540 before October 2018 when the Government effectively brought to an end the policy that had placed bond notes at par with US dollars.

Teachers and other civil servants are demanding the restoration of their pre-October 2018 salaries.

Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary-general Raymond Majongwe accused Ncube of creating falsehoods. Said Majongwe:

He can’t create falsehoods. If he isn’t aware that we earned US$540, he can go back to government files and see that.

Soon, we’ll be told that we are not Zimbabweans. The so-called middle-income economy can’t be achieved without teachers.

Our families are here and we want the country’s wealth to be shared equally.

Educators Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Tapedza Zhou told NewsDay that it was Ncube who was misleading the nation. He said:

Mthuli Ncube should not misinform the nation and himself as well by some cheap semantics.

To then claim that they have done a lot to improve salaries for civil servants when he presided over the loss of value for the local currency makes us want to know if the minister is good at addition and subtraction.

Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Obert Masaraure accused Ncube of arrogance. He said:

The statement is reckless and hinges on arrogance. It is a fact that the cost of living is rising both in US$ and local currency terms.

Zimbabwe Union of School Heads secretary-general Munyaradzi Majoni said:

The statements are not only untrue but unfortunate. We don’t know the technical explanations he will use to justify his false assertion on pre-October 2018 salaries. – NewsDay