By Sharon Tawuya
Bulawayo, (New Ziana)- Government will pay 2026 bonuses to civil servants and traditional chiefs, Finance Minister Prof. Mthuli Ncube told yournalists after the conclusion of the four-day 2027 Pre-Budget Seminar in Bulawayo.
The confirmation comes against growing calls by Parliament for a comprehensive salary review for civil servants.
Senators and MPs during the seminar and preceding public consultations have argued that civil servants’ wages have been eroded and need to be aligned to regional standards and restored to pre-October 2018 levels, when the lowest paid worker earned around US$540 equivalent.
Senate has already adopted a motion urging Government to consider a 50 percent hike and to prioritize a living wage above the poverty datum line, while unions have petitioned Parliament for US dollar-indexed salaries.
Ncube acknowledged the pressure but insisted Government has not missed a bonus since the Second Republic came in 2018.
“We are going to pay bonuses to civil servants as is the case. As you know in Second Republic we’ve never missed the issue payment of bonuses for civil servants. We thank them from the heart of the hard work. We will be paying bonuses,” he said.
He said chiefs will again be included, as was done for the first time since 1980 last year.
“You recall last year we went as far as paying bonuses even for our traditional chiefs which has never happened since independence since nineteen eighty. We also recognise the good work that they do,” he said.
The Minister did not announce a salary hike, maintaining Government’s cash-budgeting principle of “we eat what we kill” and its ZiG347 billion ceiling for 2027. However, he said civil servants’ welfare remains on the agenda as the economy moves towards Vision 2030 and inflation stays in single digits, which allows any nominal increase to be a real increase.
The 2027 Budget will be presented on November 19.
