REDCLIFF councillors have resolved to put on hold all plans to review town clerk Elizabeth Gwatipedza’s salary until the dormant Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Ziscosteel) has been brought back to life.
BLESSED MHLANGA STAFF REPORTER
Two months ago, councillors held a special council meeting where it was observed that at $3 000 per month, Gwatipedza’s salary required to be reviewed upwards so that she would be at the same level with her counterparts in other urban areas.
Part of the council minutes reads: “The deputy mayor (Vincent Masiyiwa) indicated that the salaries of the town clerk and other heads of departments were low and needed to be reviewed upwards, but there was need for Ziscosteel to be operatinalised first.”
Gwatipedza is entitled to a raft of allowances such as unlimited cellphone use, a council vehicle fuelled to 70 litres every week, free water, full holiday allowance for not more than three days and $200 for her maid and gardener. She is also entitled to a car and housing loan payable at 1% interest rate over a five-year period.
The council also pays her $2 500 per term for her children’s school fees and other allowances including housing, medical aid and funeral cover. Gwatipedza is also entitled to take ownership of her official double cab vehicle purchased for her by the local authority in 2011.
Redcliff Municipality is currently in the red owing to the collapse of major employer and largest revenue provider Ziscosteel.
The local authority has struggled to meet salaries of its workers with finance chairman Clayton Masiyatsva saying workers are owed in excess of three months’ salaries.
