Teachers to protest against govt on anti-sanctions day

AMALGAMATED Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) has planned anti-government protests today to coincide with the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) anti-sanctions solidarity day.

Sadc is holding anti-sanctions day commemorations today under the theme: Friends to All: Enemy to None: Forging Ahead and Enhancing Innovation and Productivity in Adversity of Sanctions.

But Artuz president Obert Masaraure told NewsDay that the Zanu PF government had imposed sanctions on teachers by reducing their salaries from US$540 which they used to get in 2018 to US$100.

“The teachers of Zimbabwe were earning around US$540 before the new dispensation assumed government responsibility. The austerity measures under the Transitional Stabilisation Programme led to salary theft with salaries being reduced to the current US$100,” Masaraure said.

“Teachers can no longer afford the basics; they have been reduced to paupers. All teachers are invited to participate in demanding the restoration of pre-October 2018 salaries and further defend the right to education for our learners.”

Masaraure said they would protest for the sake of their families and learners.

“The union is organising through its structures and further engaging sister unions in the Federation of Zimbabwe Educators Unions to join in. We are also mobilising online.

“The union is also engaging civil society organisations, which stand for the right to education. Lastly, we are also engaging progressive trade unions like the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions to join in,” he said.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to deliver a keynote address to mark the day.

The day was adopted by the 39th Sadc summit that was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in August 2019 which designated October 25 of each year as the day of solidarity with Zimbabwe against the sanctions.

Government claims that sanctions are hurting ordinary citizens, while the West argues that economic mismanagement, cronyism and graft are responsible for Zimbabwe’s economic ills.