By Rudo Saungweme

Teachers affiliated to the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) have made a bee-line to the association in a bid to withdraw their membership following a leaked payslip of ZIMTA Chief Executive Officer, Sifiso Ndlovu.

According to the leaked payslip, Ndlovu’s total earnings amount US $10 891.46 per month.

Ndlovu could not confirm or deny the hefty salary. “I am a private individual and I would have loved my privacy to be respected. I am not worried.

“I was last year awarded with an accolade for being the top union leader and for someone to try to drag my name in the mud and undo such kind of recognition at this critical time when we are fighting for our members’ welfare is both unfair and unfortunate. Why not leak pay slips of directors in Zanu-PF or MDC who are more of public figures than wasting so much energy on me,” said Ndlovu.

Teachers accused Ndlovu of being a hypocrite who is not sincere in representing them. They added that Ndlovu and the other executives are only motivated by the monthly subscriptions they pay.

A teacher who refused to be named said, “This is very unfair. Sifiso Ndlovu is a hypocrite. How can one get two allowances for transport? His pay slip showed that Ndlovu has transport and fuel allowance. This shows that the man is greedy. Come to think of it, I did not apply to be a ZIMTA member. I was made a member the day I joined the Ministry of Education.”

Transport allowance for Ndlovu is pegged at US $200 whilst fuel allowance is US $780, an amount that is enough to pay two teachers.

Teachers also raised alarm over Communication allowance of US $2,000.

“Why is communication allowance that much? This is the reason why these people always push us to demonstrate and demand ridiculous salaries,” a teacher from Mberengwa who refused to be named said.

A netizen Matipa on his twitter handle posted, “This is robbery in itself. Teachers are earning something less than $450 take home yet someone is grossing around $10 000 from their contributions. There should be a degree of proportionality in these salaries to those of the teacher union."

Teachers have been short-changed by their representative organisations which use the little subscriptions to enrich themselves. Some of the executives have resigned from their classroom to take up a full time office work at the teachers’ organisations. Teachers’ representative organisations have of late mushroomed.

Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) boss, Raymond Majongwe has since resigned from active teaching but is still representing teachers.