Channel 4 News
5 May 2009

At the start of a new school term in Zimbabwe one teacher cannot even afford to replace her shoes on her wages, writes Helen.

“Government coffers are bare” was the message to school teachers from Education Minister David Coltart. Promises of increases coming (hopefully from the donor community) and the waiving of school fees for the children of teachers, broke the strike threatening the re-opening of schools on Tuesday.

It’s a short term solution in a country running on promises and the good will of an exhausted and impoverished population. Even the promises are cause for much scepticism. Everyone knows that as long as the unity government does not address the fundamental issues of human rights and law order, international aid is not going to be forthcoming.

“Clothes are a luxury,” one teacher told me a few days ago as we talked about whether she would go back to work or not. “How can I stand in the classroom with these talking shoes?” she asked me. The teacher lifted her foot and showed me the sole peeling away from the upper and flapping at every footstep.

A qualified senior school teacher with twenty years experience, the woman said she does not have a car, computer or even a mobile phone and her life has been reduced to survival levels.

“I was thinking of going South to work as a maid for three months,” the teacher told me. It’s something that many of her colleagues have been doing: going to South Africa and working as cleaners, child minders, house workers or cooks in order to earn enough money to survive on for a few months when they come back to Zimbabwe.

All government teachers are earning US$100 a month which is called an “allowance” and an additional Zimbabwe dollar amount which is deposited into local bank accounts.

The Zimbabwe dollar component of the monthly salary is worthless as the local currency has been suspended and there aren’t even any bank notes in circulation anymore. Why the government continues making Zimbabwe dollar payments to civil servants is a complete mystery and an example of the total confusion prevailing at all levels of the country.

Two months ago a normal residential telephone account was the equivalent of US$2, this month it is US$300.

Clothes being a luxury for a teacher is the tip of the iceberg for the crisis situation facing all civil servants. Telephone accounts for April have just come out. The bills are not delivered or posted to customers but instead are dumped in cardboard boxes at the telephone company offices. Not in alphabetical or address order, you have to sort through thousands of bills looking for your name on an account.

Two months ago a normal residential account was the equivalent of US$2, this month it is US$300.

‘That’s more than 3 months of my pay,” the teacher said as we bemoaned the outrageous charges being demanded of residents in the town. Businesses are in an equally perilous state: where they were paying US$50 two months ago, now their accounts are for over US$2,000.

The situation for school children is equally impossible. As I write this blog on the first day of the new school term, two children, perhaps 8 and 10, are sitting in a tree picking guavas at the house next door.

“Hello,” I said to them. “Why aren’t you at school today?”

Giggling and squirming and looking at their feet, the boy finally answered: “no money”. Urban children are required to pay US$50 a term in school fees. Their parents are unemployed.

Zimbabwe is stuck in a chicken and egg situation. Aid is desperately needed but everyone, even struggling teachers, says it must not come until the old leadership stick to the agreements and free the media, restore law and order, restore human rights and share the power.

Daily Nation
5 May 2009

A Zimbabwe court today ordered 18 opposition activists facing charges of terrorism back to prison after they were indicted for trial next month in a move that will spark fresh tensions in a new unity government.

The activists, including leading human rights activist Jestina Mukoko, say they were abducted by state security agents from their homes last year and tortured to force them to confess to planning to remove President Robert Mugabe from power.

The activists, who also include several Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) members, were granted bail in March with the consent of state prosecutors.

“We were surprised by the magistrate’s decision as we were making prior arrangements with the state. She just said the matter was now outside her jurisdiction and remanded them in custody,” Alec Muchadehama, one of the defence lawyers, said.

Mr Muchadehama said the 18 had been indicted for a trial which starts next month. Lawyers were preparing to apply for bail at Zimbabwe’s High Court later today.

Long-time rivals Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC formed a unity government in February after months of wrangling, but sharp differences remain over issues such as the review of the posts of central bank governor and attorney-general.

“Today’s ruling seriously threatens not only the life and health of the inclusive government, but its longevity and durability,” the MDC said in a statement.

President Mugabe has yet to swear in Mr Roy Bennett, a senior white MDC member, as deputy Agriculture minister.

Mr Bennett was locked up in prison for a month in February on charges of plotting terrorism.
Western donors, who have demanded that the unity government carry out wider political and media reforms, and called for the release of all political prisoners before committing funding, are likely to raise concerns.

“As the MDC, we are very concerned with this matter as it adds to a long litany of breaches to the Global Political Agreement (signed by President Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai on September 15),” an MDC official told Reuters.

Some of the suspects had fallen ill and were put under police guard in hospital.

Ms Mukoko, the director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, was granted medical treatment at a previous court hearing after she said she had been tortured.

In another development, teachers in Zimbabwe have called off a strike despite their wage demands not being met, while the government has slashed school fees for the new term.

Education Minister Senator David Coltart said the government had no money to raise their salaries, but he had agreed to help teachers by giving their children free schooling.

Teachers’ groups said they accepted the government was struggling for funds and needed time to raise revenue.

Teachers are paid $100 (£66) a month but unions wanted four times as much.

Senator Coltart has been in protracted talks with unions and foreign aid donors to make sure the schools reopened in time for the new term today.

The Zimbabwean Government has also met unions’ demand for a huge cut in school fees to get children back into the classroom.

Zimbabwe’s state education system had virtually collapsed until the new power-sharing government agreed to pay teachers in foreign currency in February.

Coltart said that although the new term would begin, the education system was a “shadow” of what it had been.

“The doors may open, there may be children in the classrooms and teachers teaching, but there are very few textbooks in the rural areas and many schools do not have roofs or doors or windows,” he told the BBC. Mr Coltart, a former opposition activist, said the state of the service was down to two decades of neglect by President Mugabe’s government.

Raymond Majongwe, head of the Progressive Teachers’ Union, said going back to work was the “responsible” thing to do, even though all their demands had not been met.

He told the BBC’s Network Africa programme: “We have no reason to proceed with the strike action that will do nothing but confuse the situation that we are trying to ultimately address.

“As the government does not have the capacity to address the problems that it faces, so the donors need to chip in.”

He said they were pleased Zimbabwe’s Government had agreed to cut school fees from between $50 (£33) and $150 (£100) a term to a maximum of $20 (£13) and that teachers’ children would be exempt from fees.

Reports by Reuters and BBC online

AFP
May 5, 2009

HARARE — Zimbabwe’s teachers unions on Tuesday called off a threatened strike at state schools after the government agreed to scrap fees for children of teachers.

“We are going back to work but that does not mean teachers are happy,” Tendai Chikowore, president of the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association, told AFP.

“The government has tried to meet one of our demands. We appreciate the efforts being made to address our concerns and we decided to reciprocate by going back to work.”

The union last week threatened to strike when schools opened Tuesday following a long holiday. They are demanding an increase from their 100 US dollar salaries, which they say is too little to meet basic needs and pay school fees for their children.

On Monday, Education Minister David Coltart announced a school fees exception for teachers’ families and slashed fees for all students at government schools.

The Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe also said its members were going back to work but urged the country’s power-sharing government to spruce up its image in order to gain the confidence of donors, whose support is needed to revive the education system.

“We are going back to work although we did not have all our demands met,” PTUZ secretary-general Raymond Majongwe told AFP.

“The government is broke so there is not much that can be done to address our grievances. Donors have made it clear that they will only come in if the government addresses such issues as the violation of the rule of law.

“We should push for the government to address all the outstanding issues.”

Schoolteachers returned to work in February following the creation of a unity government, after striking since early last year to demand payment in foreign currency to cope with galloping inflation.
The government this year abandoned the local currency, and the unity government offered the 100 US dollar payments as an interim step toward improving salaries.

Coltart, who took office when the Movement for Democratic Change joined the government, had agreed to review their demands while seeking international aid.

The unity government is seeking 8.5 billion dollars over three years to revive the economy and restore public services, including schools and hospitals.

Major donors have been reluctant to give new aid until the government makes more tangible reforms to break from President Robert Mugabe’s past policies, which are blamed for wrecking the economy and trampling on human rights.

ZIMDIASPORA
TUESDAY, 05 MAY 2009
By LOVEMORE MAZIVISA

ZIMBABWE’S Education Minister Senator David Coltart ordered a dramatic cut in public school fees on Monday as the government moved to save the country’s education system from collapse.

Public school teachers who are paid just US$100 monthly allowances along with the rest of the country’s civil servants will also be exempt from paying fees for their children, the minister said after a meeting with international donors and teachers’ unions.

Parents will pay just US$20 at the most expensive government secondary schools, down from US$280 in the first term in the interim fees schedule announced by the minister.

Pupils at primary schools in poor neighbourhoods and rural areas will pay just US$5 for the second term, with their counterparts in the low density areas paying US$10.

Pupils enrolled at government secondary schools in high density suburbs will pay US$10, and their counterparts in more affluent districts will be charged US$20.

Ordinary Level and Advanced Level candidates will pay US$10 as examination fees while the treasury picks up the rest of the costs.

Coltart said over the weekend that most parents were worse off since March when he announced fees for the first term.

“When the fees were set in March, the assumption was that we would get balance of payments to kick-start the economy,” Coltart said. “But this has not materialised and parents are worse off than before.”

The hard-working minister told a press conference on Monday that cabinet would shortly be meeting to fix substantive tuition fees. Parents who have already paid more than the statutory amount would be credited for any overpayments, he added.

Coltart said: “Because the fees have been reduced, school development committees will have to raise the balance of the money needed to run schools through levies. Accordingly, all Government schools are to urgently hold meetings in terms of the Education Act, to agree with parents the amount of levies to be charged and thereafter to seek the approval from the permanent secretary.

“Those parents who have already paid fees will have that amount deducted from the amount now due in terms of this statement and will only have to pay any shortfall. In the case of those who have paid in excess of the approved fees, they will have the excess credited to any amount due in respect of the second or third term fees.”

The minister also urged private schools to charge reasonable fees.

“Private schools are required by law to seek approval for their fees from the Permanent Secretary. We, however, face the real danger of brain drain in these private schools so while I am concerned about parents with pupils in private schools, we need not undermine our private schools.”

Meanwhile teachers’ unions have urged their members to attend the opening of the second school term on Tuesday after putting back plans for a nationwide strike for improved pay.

Union leaders from the Zimbabwe Teachers Association, the Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe and the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe met Coltart and international donor agencies on Monday
“We need to give the unity government a chance, and so we are asking our members to keep working,” said Takavafira Zhou, the President of the Progressive Teacher Union of Zimbabwe. “But we can only wait until June and then we won’t have a choice but to embark on a mass action.”

Zimbabwe Telegraph
By MIKE MAKOMO
Published: Tuesday, May 05, 2009

HARARE – Despite the creation of a power-sharing government in February 2009, teachers in Zimbabwe continue to be victims of harassment and intimidation, human rights organisations have said.

The situation is being coupled with new threats by teachers to refuse going back to school before their salaries are raised.

They report teachers being threatened with violence by supporters of ZANU-PF, President Robert Mugabe’s political party.

Teachers have expressed serious concerns about working in an environment in which they fear for their safety.

Many teachers were targeted during the 2008 elections, particularly those working in rural schools, and fear that they will be especially vulnerable in future elections, scheduled to take place in 2010.
Their employer, the Public Services Commission (PSC), a statutory body which employs all government workers, has done nothing to guarantee the safety of teachers.

None of the reported incidents of torture and ill-treatment of teachers that occurred in 2008 has been investigated and no one has been brought to justice.

Human rights organisation Amnesty International has called on the PSC to work with the Zimbabwe Republic Police to ensure that impartial and independent investigations are carried out into the torture and ill-treatment of teachers and other civil servants that took place between the March and June elections in 2008.

“Those found to be responsible should be brought to justice and victims should receive redress,” said Amnesty in a statement.

“Such measures would be a first step to ensuring the safety of the teachers and improving the environment in which they are working.”

During Zimbabwe’s last election, teachers were singled out as perceived supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change, the political party that was then in opposition, or as a result of their affiliation to the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ).

The PTUZ recorded the deaths of seven teachers affiliated to the union and the harassment, intimidation and even torture of more than 60 other members.

Many teachers were forced to take refuge in urban areas or in neighbouring countries such as Botswana and South Africa, driven from their work places by security forces, and other ZANU-PF supporters, including veterans of Zimbabwe’s war of independence.

Many schools in rural areas were closed after ZANU-PF supporters, often led by soldiers, turned some schools into bases from which they operated in the run up to the June presidential election in 2008.

In a meeting with Trade Union leaders on the 4 May Education Minister David Coltart said that harrasment of teachers would not be tolerated.

AP
4 May 2009

JOHANNESBURG – In an effort to reduce waves of Zimbabwean asylum seekers, South Africa announced Monday that its neighbor’s citizens can travel here on a free 90-day visitor’s permit and apply to do casual work during their stay.

Immigration minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula appeared with her two Zimbabwean counterparts to make the announcement. Zimbabwe has two home affairs ministers under a power-sharing agreement implemented earlier this year to try to resolve the country’s economic and political crises.

Mapisa-Nqakula said the new regulations came into effect May 1, but acknowledged bureaucratic hurdles could slow implementation.

“We have a significant number of economic migrants from Zimbabwe,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.
South African officials have been overwhelmed by Zimbabweans, who apply for asylum at a rate of more than 8,000 a day, and they believe many will now opt for the visitor’s permit. Most asylum seekers are denied because South African officials believe most Zimbabweans are not fleeing out of fear or persecution, but to find work as their economy collapses.

Monday’s announcement could be seen as an acknowledgment that South Africa does not expect the stream of Zimbabweans to slow soon, despite hopes raised by the power-sharing government formed by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change.

International donors have been slow to respond to calls for help from the unity government, waiting to see whether it endures and fulfills promises to shore up democracy and rule of law in Zimbabwe after years of abuses blamed on Mugabe. The political marriage by the rivals has been shaky – as illustrated by the appearance of two Zimbabwean home affairs ministers alongside Mapisa-Nqakula.

Both parties insisted on control of the key ministry, which also oversees police accused of attacks on Mugabe’s rivals, and in the end they had to share it.

On Monday, the ZANU-PF co-minister, Kembo Mohadi, insisted Zimbabwe had no political prisoners. Some Zimbabweans in South Africa have said they cannot return until political prisoners are freed. Mohadi’s MDC counterpart, Giles Mutsekwa, disagreed, saying party leaders were still negotiating on how to address the issue of political prisoners.

But Mutsekwa added that all the parties were”committed to this inclusive government,” adding: “The people of Zimbabwe have not got any hope other than pinning their hopes on this inclusive government.

The unity government was formed to turn around an economic crisis that began with a land redistribution campaign in 2000. The often-violent campaign disrupted the agriculture-based economy of what was once the region’s breadbasket. Mugabe blames Western sanctions for his country’s economic woes, even though they are targeted at him and his cronies and not the country.

According to the United Nations, 83 percent of Zimbabweans live on less than $2 a day, and 7 million, more than half the population, receive food aid. Zimbabweans come to South Africa to earn money to send back to relatives, or to buy food and other necessities that have been scarce at home.

Human Rights Watch, among several international rights groups that have been pressing South Africa to ease restrictions on Zimbabwean immigration for humanitarian reasons, called the change outlined Monday a “positive development.” But Tiseke Kasambala, a Johannesburg-based Zimbabwe expert for Human Rights Watch, said in an interview that the change needed to be widely advertised and thoroughly explained.

Human Rights Watch has complained that a directive issued by the Home Affairs Ministry earlier this month to stop deporting Zimbabweans for six months has not been followed on the ground, in part because South African police are unaware of the new rules.

Kasambala said Zimbabweans need to know they can still apply for asylum if they feel that is warranted, as well as for longer term visas to enter South Africa.

She said South Africans who might see the Zimbabweans as competition for scarce jobs in a depressed economy should understand that employers who might once have seen the Zimbabweans as easy to exploit would now more likely follow minimum wage and other employment rules for all job seekers.

In Zimbabwe Monday, teachers’ unions called off a strike for higher pay that was to have started Tuesday.

Teacher and other salaries had been decimated by inflation. The new coalition government, helped by donors and the United Nations, began paying teachers $100 a month in hard currency in February. Unions had been demanding that figure be trebled or quadrupled, but said after a daylong meeting with the U.N. children’s fund and Education Minister David Coltart Monday that they understood the government was struggling to raise funds. The teachers accepted free schooling for their own children and a share of yet-to-be-determined levies that local school boards were to impose on parents.

“We are appealing to our members to go to classes tomorrow while we allow the government to raise funds so that we can get reasonable salaries,” said Raymond Majongwe, head of the Progressive Teachers Union. “Let us give this inclusive government a chance and let’s be responsible and educate our children.

Sifiso Ndlovu, chief executive the Zimbabwe Teachers Association, said while teachers understood the government’s difficulties, they wanted it to move quickly to raise money.

“All our members must be in school tomorrow,” Ndlovu said.

BBC
4 May 2009

Teachers in Zimbabwe have called off a strike despite their wage demands not being met, while the government has slashed school fees for the new term.

David Coltart said the government had no money to raise their salaries, but he had agreed to help teachers by giving their children free schooling.

Teachers’ groups said they accepted the government was struggling for funds and needed time to raise revenue.

Teachers are paid $100 (£66) a month but unions wanted four times as much.

“The doors may open… but many schools do not have roofs or doors or windows” said Senator David Coltart, Education minister.

Mr Coltart has been in protracted talks with unions and foreign aid donors to make sure the schools reopened in time for the new term on Tuesday.

The Zimbabwean government has also met unions’ demand for a huge cut in school fees – which most parents cannot afford – to get children back into the classroom.

Zimbabwe’s state education system had virtually collapsed until the new power-sharing government agreed to pay teachers in foreign currency in February.

Mr Coltart said that although the new term would begin, the education system was a “shadow” of what it had been.

“The doors may open, there may be children in the classrooms and teachers teaching, but there are very few textbooks in the rural areas and many schools do not have roofs or doors or windows,” he told the BBC.

Mr Coltart, a former opposition activist, said the state of the service was down to two decades of neglect by President Robert Mugabe’s government.

‘Responsible’

Raymond Majongwe, head of the Progressive Teachers’ Union, said going back to work was the “responsible” thing to do, even though all their demands had not been met.

He told the BBC’s Network Africa programme: “We have no reason to proceed with the strike action that will do nothing but confuse the situation that we are trying to ultimately address.

“As the government does not have the capacity to address the problems that it faces, so the donors need to chip in.”

He said they were pleased Zimbabwe’s government had agreed to cut school fees from between $50 (£33) and $150 (£100) a term to a maximum of $20 (£13) and that teachers’ children would be exempt from fees.

Most Western donors, however, remain reluctant to restore aid to Zimbabwe while Mr Mugabe remains president.

Last week, African countries agreed to give Zimbabwe $400m-worth of credit.

Teachers and other public sector workers agreed to end industrial action in February after the government agreed to pay their salaries in foreign currency because of massive inflation.

Zimbabwe’s economic collapse had left the country’s currency virtually worthless – and many civil servants unable to afford even the bus fare to work.

The coalition government formed in February between President Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, faces calls from eviscerated public services across the spectrum for more funding.

On Friday, Mr Tsvangirai told a Labour Day rally that the government was broke and could not afford to pay any more than the allowance of $100 a month. He said this was also what Mr Mugabe was being paid.

The Herald
4 May 2009

Harare — A LEADING Chinese arts group — Gansu Art Troupe — which is in the country on a cultural exchange programme — gave a scintillating performance in Harare over the weekend.
Several Government officials were part of the audience that watched the show at the Celebration Centre.

The Gansu Art Troupe is a large-scale professional performance group, composed of Chinese national prize-winning artists.

It has enjoyed worldwide acclaim since 1980 for its attractive Buddhist dances. Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Yuan Nansheng said China and Zimbabwe have engaged in cultural exchange programmes in various forms for the past three decades.

He said this had helped consolidate and facilitate friendship between the two countries and people.
“The visiting performance by Gansu Art Troupe, is another reflection of such good wish of our two sides. I do believe that cultural exchange is a powerful means which can bridge the gap between people from different cultures and draw their hearts closer,” Ambassador Yuan said.

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart paid tribute to the Chinese government for assisting Zimbabwe in most of its developmental programmes.

“Our relations have grown over the years and this has seen the Chinese government assist in the construction of the National Sports Stadium and we have a lot to learn from the people of China’s civilisation that dates back thousands of years,” he said.

VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
4 May 2009

Zimbabwean Education Minister David Coltart on Monday staved off a strike by teachers on the eve of a new school term with help from international donors including the United Nations Children’s Fund, which promised to appeal for funding for underpaid instructors.

Officials of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association had threatened to launch a new strike if the government did not review the monthly US$100 paid to teachers like other civil servants.

When introduced in March by the unity government installed in mid-February, the sum was intended to be a supplement to public service salaries paid in Zimbabwean dollars. But the government has since abandoned all use of the worthless national currency.

Coltart said UNICEF promised to launch an appeal by month’s end through the office of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for funds to help increase Zimbabwean teacher salaries.

The meeting was attended by European Union and Swedish Development Agency officials who said they wanted to help but as a matter of policy were monitoring political conditions.

Coltart told told reporter Patience Rusere of VOA’s Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that he has a five-point plan to rescue the education sector, but warned the initiative is only short-term.

Secretary General Richard Gundani of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association said his members were touched by the good will demonstrated by the education minister and international donors and would review the situation at a later date.

The Guardian
3 May 2009
By David Smith, Africa correspondent

State schools in Zimbabwe have been ordered to slash their fees in a bid to stave off the collapse of the country’s education system, it was reported today. The move came after Morgan Tsvangirai, the prime minister, admitted that the unity government he formed with his rival, President Robert Mugabe, was “broke” and could not meet union demands for higher wages.

Zimbabwe’s Sunday Mail newspaper said Senator David Coltart, the education minister, had recommended that state schools should cut their fees when they open for a new term on Tuesday because many parents could not afford them.

“I cannot divulge the figures at the moment because the recommendations are going to Mugabe, Tsvangirai and deputy prime minister Arthur Mutambara on Monday,” he was quoted as saying. “However, what we want are substantial cuts.”

The government set school fees in state schools at between $20 and $280 a term two months ago, but many parents have failed to pay, citing low wages and high living costs.

Coltart added: “When the fees were set in March, the assumption was that we would get balance of payments support [to] kickstart the economy. But this has not materialised and parents are worse off than before.”

The malaise in Zimbabwe’s education system, once the envy of Africa, is a telling measure of the country’s steep decline. In the early years of independence under Mugabe, who began his career as a teacher, 96% of children attended school.

Mugabe has since presided over an exodus of tens of thousands of teachers, which has left many schools shut and fears that a generation will grow up without education. Zimbabwe was criticised last week by Amnesty International for failing to protect teachers from harassment and beatings during last year’s elections.

The country’s top university in Harare has been closed for nearly a year, with broken toilets and no piped water. The state media reported yesterday that only 68 students out of 12,000 had paid their full fees of about $300 when the college tried to reopen in March, and it was now appealing for foreign assistance.

Zimbabwe said last week that it had secured $400m in credit lines from African states to revive some of its ailing industries, many of which are operating at below 20% of their capacity.

Trade unions have called for a monthly minimum wage of $450 and threatened to go on strike if their demands are not met. But Tsvangirai told a May Day rally in Harare that no state worker, including Mugabe, was earning more than $100 a month. “This government is broke, and we are only able to pay the $100 allowance,” he said, adding that this would “graduate into a proper salary” when the situation improved and more people were paying tax.

“We have been in office for less than three months. I plead with you to please give us time.”
Unemployment is estimated at 90%, while numerous hospitals are closed and roads and sewers have fallen into disrepair. Zimbabwe has asked for billions of dollars to rescue the economy, but western countries have demanded broad reforms before restoring aid.

There is an increasing belief among analysts that the unity government appears to be stalling, with Mugabe still holding the whip hand. They cite as evidence his continued detention of political activists, renewed farm invasions and the seizure of the department of communications from Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change.