Teachers at an elite Harare private school, Divaris Makaharis, have accused its owner businessman Phillip Chiyangwa of “bullying tactics” to stop them from demanding payment of their outstanding salaries.
The teachers said their predicament was worsened by the fact that the school did not have a board of directors. It is also reported that the school does not have medical aid and funeral policies for its workers since inception.
“Although we average a net salary of $600, the salary payments are inconsistent and at the moment we have no clue if we will get salaries for April,” said a teacher who declined to be named.
Another teacher said each time Chiyangwa visited the school he did not entertain their grievances, but instead accused them of owing him money.
“We have had meetings with him, but he is a very difficult person to deal with. He is not a good listener. Last month, when he came we thought he had brought us the money he owed us in unpaid salaries, but he claimed he had been overpaying us and produced dubious statements reflecting the amounts he claimed we owed him,” said another staff member.
However, Chiyangwa yesterday rubbished the allegations saying as far as he was concerned all employees received their salaries on time.
“I can’t be at the school all the time to authorise everything because I am a busy man and they took advantage of that. I have been paying them very well, but now I have discovered that there are some people who are not supposed to be there. I have a disaster on my hands,” he said.
Chiyangwa said teachers at his private school were receiving better salaries compared to their counterparts in the civil service and challenged them to leave if they were unhappy with their working conditions.
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He said the school was still new hence there was no board since it only had a few students. He, however, said he has since appointed committees to administer the school finance, sport and transport departments.
