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Kurauone Chihwayi who is the deputy spokesperson for the MDC led by Professor Welshman Ncube said Matibenga has not proved herself in the past five months she has been in office.
“The minister should apologise to government workers and start performing now instead of spitting venom on them,” he said.
“Civil servants have genuine concerns that require urgent attention by everybody in government. Their grievances have been on the table for quite some time and therefore deserve respect and recognition.”
But political analysts, Ernest Mudzengi said it was too early to judge Matibenga considering that she has only been on the job for a few months.
“This case has ceased to be a labour issue but has now been politicised by people taking advantage of the situation to score points,” he said.
Mudzengi said the strike by civil servants should be blamed on the economic meltdown which started well before Matibenga’s appointment.
Matibenga has also defended herself, arguing that her role as a Cabinet minister was to make policy and not to negotiate with workers whose employer is the Public Service Commission.
“It is the height of dishonesty to portray the Public Service minister as the face of the problem when the real issue is about civil servants salaries including the opaque nature of the diamond revenue and the implementation of the public service audit which found, among other irregularities, 75 000 irregularly employed workers,” she said in a statement.
MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said Matibenga was a capable minister who proved herself as a trade union leader.
Mwonzora said the attacks on Matibenga were not warranted and accused Zanu PF of encouraging the strike by civil servants to gain political mileage.
Matibenga was a trade unionist for decades where she served as secretary-general of the Commercial Workers Union (CWU) as well as being one of the three Vice President of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).
She is said to hold a book-keeping qualification, according to her curriculum vitae filed with the Parliament. Matibenga replaced Professor Eliphas Mukonoweshuro who died in August last year.
Businessman bids for Presidency
A local businessman Dr Raymond Chamba has announced his bid to contest the Presidential elections as an independent candidate in the coming polls slated for later this year or in 2013.
He however conceded that his chances of winning are slim considering that the country has two dominant political parties, Zanu PF and the MDC-T.
The 41 year-old Chamba said recently that he will soon launch a “tsunami” of a multi-media election campaign
— BY OUR STAFF
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