Symptomatic of their refusal to apply their minds to issues, the MDC-T has once again come out with an accusation that it is Zanu-PF, which is fuelling the civil servants strike. This line which has become the only line of defence especially by the MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora who has become delusionary in his paranoia and fear of Zanu-PF to an extent that anyone who criticises his failures and that of his leadership is said to be fronting Zanu-PF.

The failure and inability to engage in constructive public debate on national issues by Douglas Mwonzora and many of his MDC-T colleagues is symptomatic of the low levels of depths in him and that of his party that sees a Zanu-PF conspiracy in all their failure to handle issues. So delusionary is their thinking that even when other parties are at variance with them on policy issues they rush to the tired cliché that they are fronting        Zanu-PF. But when will they grow up to have a formula of accepting responsibility for their failures or ability to debate issues on merit without hiding on the delusion that there is a Zanu-PF hand somewhere. Why does it look like MDC-T people see the Zanu-PF hand in everything and everywhere even where there are just shadows?

The rights of civil service to strike is the same as the right of all workers to strike and the current strike is justified as the conditions of service and salary levels of the civil service are unjustifiably too low. Strikes by workers are not a new phenomenon and they are not peculiar to Zimbabwe, they happen everywhere in the world.
In fact the majority of MDC-T leadership are former trade unionists and they know pretty well that workers have a right to withdraw their labour to negotiate for a living wage. In so doing the workers are advancing their interests and as such it is unfair for the MDC-T to claim that the workers are being used by Zanu-PF when they are expressing a genuine concern that needs urgent attention. By accusing Zanu-PF of being behind the strike by civil servants the MDC-T is indirectly attacking them and accusing them of being insincere about their grievances. The truth of the matter is that the poverty datum line stands at around $600 when the average salary for the public service is around an average of $250. At the same time the cost of essential services like electricity, health, water, communication and basic food remains exorbitant. Simply put, the salaries of the civil servants need special attention and political parties should stop playing political football about an urgent and critical issue that has a bearing on the lives of so many people.

Equally surprising is the way the Minister of Public Service Lucia Matibenga has handled the whole issue of the strike. A lot was expected from her as a seasoned trade unionist who continues to serve as the third vice president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) but alas the minister handled the whole issue with gross unprofessionalism. Instead of addressing the fundamental demands of the civil service she retreated from giving the required strategic direction, refusing even to engage the press and at one stage even failing to attend the meeting of the National Joint Negotiating Council. These kinds of antics and political theatrics only help fuel tension and Minister Matibenga knows that clearly. Her situation was made worse by the declaration by her party that the strike was fuelled by Zanu-PF literally undermining the genuine grievances of workers.

What I find interesting about the      MDC-T allegations is that in recent years Zanu-PF used to accuse workers of being influenced by the MDC-T by now the accusation has shifted, it’s now MDC-T accusing Zanu-PF of influencing workers. Is this an admission by the MDC-T that they have lost the workers to Zanu-PF? This will not be surprising especially given the expose' of MDC-T’s lack of genuineness on the workers plight. If anyone had any doubts about this then the recent firing of members of the workers committee by the MDC-T led council in Gweru is a telling tale of how they lack interest in the plight of workers. The act of firing of workers demonstrating for better working conditions like what was done by the MDC-T led Gweru City Council seriously shows that that party is far from being committed the cause of workers.

It does not help to shy away from important national issues and stigmatise all actions as Zanu-PF orchestration. While it is true that politics presided over the collapse of the economy of the country and that the little salaries that the civil service is getting are a reflection of the damage that politics did to the country, it is unjust to want to rubbish and stigmatise the civil servants strike as a Zanu-PF machination. What is needed is to be genuine in the negotiations so that the outcomes are satisfactory to all the parties. The civil servants are aware that the government is not collecting a lot in terms of revenue hence their moderate demand but at the same time the government should not exhibit arrogance as this infuriates the other party and the effects may be explosive with the debris hitting innocent targets. There is a need to take the grievances of the civil service seriously and address them expeditiously because a dysfunctional civil service will have far reaching consequences on                   the economic recovery efforts of the country.

• Qhubani Moyo is the National Organising Secretary of the MDC led by Professor Welshman Ncube. He is contactable on qmoyo2000@yahoo.co.uk