Zimbabwe Health Education Strike WEB
Metadata
- Zimbabwe Health Education Strike WEB
- June 22, 2022
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script English USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: ZIMBABWE HEALTH EDUCATION STRIKE (TV) HEADLINE: Zimbabwe Teachers, Health Workers on Strike to Demand Payment in US Dollars TEASER: PUBLISHED AT: 06/22/2022 12:20PM BYLINE: Columbus Mavhunga CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Harare, Zimbabwe VIDEOGRAPHER: Blessing Chigwenhembe VIDEO EDITOR: PRODUCER: SCRIPT EDITORS: DLJ, MAS VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original, WhatsApp PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_ TRT: 2:14 VID APPROVED BY: MAS TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES:)) ((INTRO)) [[Zimbabwe's teachers' unions have joined the country's health workers in a strike to demand they be paid in U.S. dollars instead of local currency, which has sharply declined in value. Most of Zimbabwe's government workers make the equivalent of about $55 a month, a tenth of what they once earned. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare, Zimbabwe.]] ((NARRATOR)) Since Monday, doctors and nurses in Zimbabwe’s public hospitals have been on strike. They are demanding the government review their salaries, which in some cases amount to less than $25 a month. ((Denford Masona, Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association)) ((Eng.17 secs)) “We are not asking for something that that is out of this world. We just want to live a better life. Some of us are married, some of us have kids, different responsibilities, which with the current salary we cannot afford.” ((NARRATOR)) Patients are being turned away from government-owned hospitals. So are students at public schools, as teachers also want a review of their salaries. Zimbabwe’s finance minister says discussions are underway but held down expectations. ((Mthuli Ncube, Zimbabwe Finance Minister)) (Eng. 19 secs)) ((Mandatory courtesy: WhatsApp)) “So as government we are of course sensitive to the plight of all the civil servants and we do whatever we can to make sure that we can accommodate some of the demands, obviously within the confines of the purse of the government, with the budget constraints that we face.” ((NARRATOR)) Zimbabwe’s government has struggled with financial issues for years and had to abandon its own dollar in 2009 because of hyperinflation. The new currency, also called the dollar, was introduced in 2019. Alexandar Rusero, a politics professor at Africa University in Zimbabwe, blames the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took power from the late Robert Mugabe in 2017. ((Alexandar Rusero, Zimbabwe Political Analyst)) (Eng. 20 secs)) “It’s a reflection of a government that confronted with a delicate balance of incompetence and low opinion of the people. That’s where Mnangawa’s government differs from Mugabe’s government. Mugabe had some sensitivities especially when it comes to issues of our civil servant salaries. You do not just keep quiet when things are like this.” ((NARRATOR)) Many Zimbabweans have taken to social media, criticizing Mnangagwa, who they say is not taking care of the country’s citizens and workers. ((Columbus Mavhunga, for VOA News, Harare, Zimbabwe))
- Transcript/Script USAGM SHARE ((PLAYBOOK SLUG: ZIMBABWE HEALTH EDUCATION STRIKE (TV) HEADLINE: Zimbabwe Teachers, Health Workers on Strike to Demand Payment in US Dollars TEASER: PUBLISHED AT: 06/22/2022 12:20PM BYLINE: Columbus Mavhunga CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Harare, Zimbabwe VIDEOGRAPHER: Blessing Chigwenhembe VIDEO EDITOR: PRODUCER: SCRIPT EDITORS: DLJ, MAS VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original, WhatsApp PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_ TRT: 2:14 VID APPROVED BY: MAS TYPE: TVPKG EDITOR NOTES:)) ((INTRO)) [[Zimbabwe's teachers' unions have joined the country's health workers in a strike to demand they be paid in U.S. dollars instead of local currency, which has sharply declined in value. Most of Zimbabwe's government workers make the equivalent of about $55 a month, a tenth of what they once earned. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare, Zimbabwe.]] ((NARRATOR)) Since Monday, doctors and nurses in Zimbabwe’s public hospitals have been on strike. They are demanding the government review their salaries, which in some cases amount to less than $25 a month. ((Denford Masona, Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association)) ((Eng.17 secs)) “We are not asking for something that that is out of this world. We just want to live a better life. Some of us are married, some of us have kids, different responsibilities, which with the current salary we cannot afford.” ((NARRATOR)) Patients are being turned away from government-owned hospitals. So are students at public schools, as teachers also want a review of their salaries. Zimbabwe’s finance minister says discussions are underway but held down expectations. ((Mthuli Ncube, Zimbabwe Finance Minister)) (Eng. 19 secs)) ((Mandatory courtesy: WhatsApp)) “So as government we are of course sensitive to the plight of all the civil servants and we do whatever we can to make sure that we can accommodate some of the demands, obviously within the confines of the purse of the government, with the budget constraints that we face.” ((NARRATOR)) Zimbabwe’s government has struggled with financial issues for years and had to abandon its own dollar in 2009 because of hyperinflation. The new currency, also called the dollar, was introduced in 2019. Alexandar Rusero, a politics professor at Africa University in Zimbabwe, blames the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took power from the late Robert Mugabe in 2017. ((Alexandar Rusero, Zimbabwe Political Analyst)) (Eng. 20 secs)) “It’s a reflection of a government that confronted with a delicate balance of incompetence and low opinion of the people. That’s where Mnangawa’s government differs from Mugabe’s government. Mugabe had some sensitivities especially when it comes to issues of our civil servant salaries. You do not just keep quiet when things are like this.” ((NARRATOR)) Many Zimbabweans have taken to social media, criticizing Mnangagwa, who they say is not taking care of the country’s citizens and workers. ((Columbus Mavhunga, for VOA News, Harare, Zimbabwe))
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date June 22, 2022 13:26 EDT
- Byline Columbus Mavhunga
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America