A topic on note in the exploration of whether Matabeleland is
marginalised or not is its salary atterns when compared to the same companies
in Mashonaland or primarily, Harare.
This issue is a talking point in society where it has become
the norm that people in Harare earn more than those in other regions with
popular justifications for this being attributed to the high housing prices of
the capital city.
However should this be the case and is this supposed to be
accepted as a norm? People throughout the country do indeed have equal basic
needs and share the same rights and most of all are within the same country
hence should be paid evenly. This will contribute towards equal development as
the national fiscus and monetary flow will be even throughout the land, save
for population differences.
This issue recently came to light when the Zimpapers company
was reported on Bulawayo 24 as paying its Bulawayo based journalists 60% less
than it pays those in Harare. The issue of course was accepted much to the
furore of Bulawayo based journalists who equally have diary meetings, look for
stories and write the same minimum number of stories on a daly basis for the
Chronicle and weekly basis for the Sunday News as do Harare journalists for the
Herald and the Sunday Mail.
The disgruntled workers even went to the extent of writing a
petition to pressure the company to pay them salaries equal to their co workers
in Harare. This dire situation of uneven salaries leaves one begging to ask if
people from other towns and cities other than Harare were paid just as much as
those in Harare get paid, would there be as much of a stark contrast in
development and lifestyles between Harare and the rest of Zimbabwe? These are
some of the issues that should be brought to light and discussed in public
forums for the betterment of the population as a whole and at the same time
they are the issues that make Matabeleland as a region be indeed marginalised.
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