A group of men and women mill around a dilapidated building while others roast maize cobs on a tired fire that appears to be telling their story.
BY SILENCE CHARUMBIRA
The scorching sun does not deter them as some periodically burst into song, encouraging each other to persevere until their employer pays them.
Sticking out of the group is Godfrey Chiweshe (32), a carriage and wagon examiner with the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) who is clad in a white t-shirt inscribed “James 5 verse 4” at the back and “Pay Now” at the front.
Chiweshe is owed 15 months’ salary and the verse on his t-shirt, which reads: “Behold, the wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts”, tells his story.
At his house in Kambuzuma, his wife Faith Tambara says she no longer has any clue how the family will survive. She is nursing a one month old baby.
She never had prenatal care during her pregnancy and only went to the clinic to deliver as she could not afford the fees.
“We owe a lot of people money and no one is prepared to give us anything as we cannot repay.
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“To prepare for the birth of my baby, we borrowed and I do not know when we last paid our rentals.
“Our water supply was recently disconnected and all the other tenants blame us because we are the only ones who default,” Tambara said, avoiding eye contact.
Chiweshe said he had to send his other children to his rural home in Bikita. He regrets that he has not been able to fend for them and his parents.
“My first born is in Grade One but I could not even afford the $20 for his fees,” he said.
“The teacher called and told me he was the only one without a uniform and fees. It is embarrassing that people in the rural areas can afford that and I cannot.” Like Tambara, Melody (23) is married to an NRZ worker and stays at nearby Rugare high-density suburb.
She cannot afford to pay for electricity and goes around shopping centres picking plastic containers that she burns for cooking.
Their landlady, Mbuya Chinamhora, is a widow and says at one time she thought of evicting the family for non-payment of rentals and bills, but felt pity for them. “Where can they go? Maybe one day the company will pay and they will have a normal life,” she said.
Their water has also been disconnected for non-payment and Melody uses rags for sanitary wear as she cannot afford sanitary pads.
“I have borrowed from everyone including tuck-shops and now I just have to use rags,” she said.
“We have a child in Grade One but we cannot afford school fees. I am even worried that I may fall pregnant soon as I cannot afford family planning pills.” Across the railway lines in Lochinvar, about 72 families face the same dilemma.
Their situation is so dire that they survive on mealies from nearby fields and some of the children are visibly malnourished.
Tsitsi Mboko (34) is married to an engineman and she says whenever they have something to cook they have to beg for saw dust in nearby Southerton Industrial sites which they use to as firewood.
Like the other women, she says she is also using rags for sanitary wear, adding that she fears the rags could expose them to bacterial infections as they cannot afford soap to wash them.
“Our bedrooms have become dreadful with tension. There is no domestic tranquillity because sometimes we rebuff our husbands as if they are to blame.
“I tell you the story is the same for the majority of people here,” Mboko said.
She said during the sugar plum (mazhanje) season, the wild fruits were their staple diet and now they alternated between avocados and mealies.
The families reside in NRZ staff quarters meant for bachelors, where they pay $45 per month.
“It is funny their rentals are up-to-date when our salaries are 15 months behind,” said one worker with dejection written all over the face.
Sarudzai Ruzive (29) is married to an operating clerk who is similarly owed 15 months’ salary. She says their problems began long before salaries stopped coming.
“They have been slashing salaries willy-nilly and they owe us thousands [of dollars). Now we owe a lot of people, including hospitals and clinics where we gave birth. Even if those people come to attach property, there is nothing to attach as some have sold their property to survive. The best would be to give us work, maybe to pay back in kind,” she said.
“Look at me; I am all frail because of the hunger that I endure daily. I get a few cobs of mealies when I dig people’s gardens and my children are beginning to have diarrhoea because of the poor diet. Our parents in rural areas are also on the verge of starvation due to the droughts and we cannot afford to provide for them.”
She said the majority of people in the staff residences were at the risk of tuberculosis due to saw dust fires, which emit too much smoke.
Mai Masvinga (30) looks much older than her age, which she attributes to poverty.
She said the majority of children in examination classes were likely to drop out due to non-availability of examination fees.
“I have one son in Form Four and another in Grade Seven but they are likely to drop out because we cannot afford the examination fees as well as the school fees. Headmasters have blacklisted our kids because we have not been paying fees for a very long time,” she said.
Workers at the troubled parastatal, most of who are owed over 15 months’ salaries, downed tools last month demanding their salaries. Management came up with a payment plan where they offered them figures between of $175 and $350 for grades C3 and B5.
The proposal was rejected. Two weeks ago some members of the management allegedly derailed a goods train in Willowvale on their way to off-load a consignment at BAK Storage, a development the workers blamed on ageing infrastructure.
The striking workers have now been joined by their families, including women and children who were picketing at Rugare yard in Harare, hoping management would act on their plight
Transport minister Jorum Gumbo recently said the workers needed to be patient and wait for their plans to correct the situation and said a meeting was scheduled to be held on Friday between management, NRZ board and workers’ representatives, but the workers refused to be represented, alleging that union leaders were being bribed.
The situation of the workers is not unique to them as recently Grain Marketing Board staffers camped at the company’s offices for close to a month.
Other sectors of the economy are equally struggling while the country’s leadership appears to be concerned more about remaining in power while the country burns and parastatals are being drained.
