BULAWAYO - Government buses that were ferrying civil servants to and from work for free have been grounded due to lack of spare parts, thereby compounding the plight of civil servants. Civil servants said the US$100 they earn monthly was not enough to cater for their food basics, transport costs, water, electricity and telephone usage. “It’s almost two weeks with no free transport for civil servants as the government CMED buses are all grounded because of lack of spare parts,” said a mechanic at the Bulawayo CMED.
In interviews, civil servants expressed anger over the failure of the government to purchase spare parts.
“Our situation has been worsened as we cannot afford the transport costs with our poor pay. Honestly, how does the government expect us to report for work, where do we get money for transport? said Moyo, a civil servant based at Mhlahlandlela Building. Other civil servants said they would be forced to absent from work since they could not afford the transport costs charged by public commuters. In a month, a worker requires about US$30 to travel to and from work.
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