HARARE – Nurses at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital, formerly Harare Hospital, briefly walked out on Friday protesting low salaries that they say no longer cover basic living costs following a sharp rise in fuel prices.
The placard-waving nurses sang and danced outside the hospital, demanding salary adjustments in line with the rising cost of living after petrol increased to US$2.17 per litre from $1.52 last month.
The increases have pushed up transport fares and food prices, deepening pressure on already strained incomes.
The Zimbabwe Nurses Association said nurses were getting just ZiG500 (about $15) in transport allowances, but some were now paying $6 for their daily commute.
“Nurses want to work but coming to work is now a challenge,” said Belcred Farai Matsiwe, ZINA’s Sally Mugabe Hospital representative.
Kumbirai Maresva, ZINA’s provincial organising secretary for Harare, said the nurses had resolved to boycott night duty until the allowance was reviewed.
The allowance is currently less than $50, Maresva said, and nurses want this reviewed upwards to at least $200.
“We have agreed to work from 7AM to 4PM. For night duties we agreed that to stop coming to work. The night duty allowance doesn’t make sense,” Maresva said.
He maintained that nurses were not on strike but “want a way forward because of the pain they are going through.”
Nurses in Zimbabwe earn about $450 per month, paid as a mix of United States dollars and ZiG.
The protest comes as economic pressures intensify across Zimbabwe, with public sector workers increasingly vocal over wages amid inflationary shocks linked to global supply disruptions.
George Charamba, the presidency spokesman, urged calm, saying the government was aware of the situation and working on a response.
“Patience, patience macomrades: Good tidings are coming both on the fuel front and salaries for civil servants. The government is fully aware of the pressures its workforce faces, particularly in the wake of disturbances in the Middle East,” he wrote on X, adding that a review of wages and salaries was already due.
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