LEWIS MACHIPISA, Harare | Friday 7.30pm.
PICKETING Harare city council workers on Friday burnt the Zimbabwean national flag and assaulted the deputy mayor as they vetted their anger over the non-payment of their October salaries.
The workers have vowed not to return to work unless they get their wages. They also are calling for the resignation of the Harare Mayor, Solomon Tawengwa, for gross inefficiency, adding their voices to a call initially made by Harare residents and opposition political parties for the city fathers to pack their bags and go.
Harare’s city council has had a list of woes this month. Just last week, Mayor Tawengwa was held hostage by irate women in a Harare high-density suburb which had no water. Only the intervention of the riot police saved the mayor from being beaten, and he had to quickly flee the area.
Council workers found no money in their bank accounts when they went to withdraw their salaries on Friday. The angry workers then proceeded to block the entrance to the council offices, using their vehicles, and then burnt refuse bins. Riot police have been deployed to monitor the situation.
Harare residents have reached their wits end with the city authorities. The capital city’s 1.4 million residents have experienced a water shortage for two successive weeks due to the council failing to pay contractors upgrading the pipes. Construction on a major highway in the city has also stopped because the contractor has not been paid.
Ironically, while the city council says it has no money — despite the fact that it collects money from rate payers every month — it has found the funds to build a $Z3.6-million (about $US1-million) mansion for the mayor. — IPS