Teachers' union leaders held, claims of torture

Teachers' union leaders held, claims of torture

• Zimbabwe teachers in fresh strike over pay

• Teachers awarded 1000 percent pay hike

• ZIMSEC fails to meet marking deadline for A and O Level exams

• Teachers call off strike after pay deal

• Zimbabwe teachers strike over pay

• Mzingwane High School shut down after riots

• Teachers arrested in school sex abuse scandal

• Mugabe hails corporal punishment

• Teachers call off strike

• Striking teachers fed chalk by police - union

• Majongwe arrested over teachers' strike

• Mugabe faces new wave of strikes

• Zimbabwe's university fees up 2000%

• Schools to teach Ndebele, English and Shona

• Education ministry blows budget in 6 months

• Mugabe refuses to pay son's fees

• 118 Zimbabwe teachers die of Aids

• 100 women seized in Zimbabwe fees protest

• Headmasters face jail as Education Bill sails through

By Lebo Nkatazo

ZIMBABWEAN police on Tuesday arrested seven trade unionists, including Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary general Raymond Majongwe, in connection with the ongoing teachers' strike.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) said Majongwe and six others were first abducted by youths from the ruling Zanu PF party and taken to the party’s offices in Harare where they were allegedly tortured before being handed over to the police.

“Reports we are getting indicate that some of them may have been beaten seriously. All their telephones have been taken away from them," said Khumbulani Ndlovu, the ZCTU's information officer.

"The PTUZ, an affiliate of the ZCTU, was distributing flyers on the state of the education system in Zimbabwe and were demanding that authorities act on the collapse of the education system. At the time of this writing, lawyers are trying to have access to them,” he added.

Some teachers aligned to the PTUZ stopped work from January 24 after the government ignored their demands for a salary review.

The union acted after the government "unilaterally" awarded teachers a basic monthly salary of Z$141 million. That figure comes to US$4,689 at the official rate -- but just US$28 at the widely used black market rate.

Teachers want a basic monthly salary of Z$1.7 billion, nearly Z$600 million towards housing and transport costs and government funding for teaching materials.

Zimbabwean teachers have been migrating to neighbouring Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa, some of them taking up menial jobs to earn a living and send money to their families at home.

JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
newsdesk@newzimbabwe.com