CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
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Zimbabwe |
SOCIAL CONDITIONS
Breadwinners are having to look for additional jobs in order to make ends meet
Harare Jonathan works as a journalist for a reputable Harare publishing company, but is rarely in the office. He’s busy doing part-time jobs during official working hours. He carefully divides his time, making sure that he has time for both his official employer and his other personal jobs. This is a new survival strategy for many Zimbabweans who now find it difficult to depend on their salaries for a living.
Others have not been so lucky and have been fired from their jobs for moonlighting.
As the economy continues to decline sharply, the majority of professionals in Zimbabwe can no longer live off their official jobs, and are moonlighting in order to make ends meet. Clever ones have migrated to other countries where they are better paid. After a few years abroad, they return home as «millionaires» because of the depreciation of the Zimbabwe dollar against major foreign currencies.
Surging inflation
A few years ago, a Harare economist, Sehliselo Mpofu, said that when the economy was performing well, fewer people practised moonlighting, but now it has increased due to the decrease of disposable incomes. No matter how many times workers get a «salary adjustment», the situation in Zimbabwe is so bad that their salaries increases are almost immediately eroded by surging inflation, which hit a record 40% in September 2002.
Victor Chisi is the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe’s (CCZ) manager. He estimates that a family of four now needs at least Z$35,000 a month to be able to live decently. Not many workers take home this kind of paycheck in a country where more than 75% of the population are presumed to be poor.
Mpofu says that moonlighting is now taking place on a larger scale and involves more people in different levels of authority and of responsibility. Teachers, university lecturers, accountants, bookkeepers, journalists and doctors are all moonlighting, working during hours, after hours and during weekends and vacations. Moonlighting has gone beyond just the need to supplement incomes. In some cases it has become the major source of income, while formal jobs are only retained for job security reasons.
Economists say many employees are bitter and emotional about their declining living standards as a result of the high cost of living. A number of high-ranking officials can afford to buy a house or a car from proceeds of a second undeclared job. The proceeds, which in some cases are in foreign currency, are often traded on the «parallel market» where rates are higher than the official market — an incentive to hunt for more opportunities to moonlight.
Taxation
Regarding declared income: A huge chunk of personal income and other means of income are paid to the government in the form of taxes. At the same time, purchasing power has declined in the face of rising poverty and unemployment. But proceeds from moonlighting are generally not taxed as they are not declared and those who practice it easily evade the taxman.
Mpofu says that because of the harsh economic environment and sharply declining incomes, companies now have workers who are no longer committed to their jobs. Most are discouraged and discontented. Working conditions at most companies have declined as companies have cut down on the amount of benefits extended to employees, thus increasing the desire or need to supplement their incomes through moonlighting.
Gerald Samakoni is a Harare worker. He says: «I am contemplating quitting my job as a clerk because after I buy my groceries every month, all I’ve got left is money for my bus fare. Life in Zimbabwe is unbearable. No sooner have you got a salary increase than it’s wiped away by inflation».
Zimbabwe has an extremely high personal income tax rate, but at present, traders in the informal sector are not taxed by the government, making informal trading very lucrative.
Mpofu says: «The reasons for moonlighting are many and varied. Whilst there is an obvious increase in income for individuals from extra jobs, benefits are at the expense of institutions. Employees use company facilities to carry out private jobs. Organisations incur increased overhead costs, while workers make a killing by taking advantage of the access to telephone facilities, fax machines, stationery, the office, transport. The other reason is that formal jobs tend to suffer due to poor service delivery, poor quality of work, production inefficiency.
Medical experts say that moonlighting causes high levels of stress, strokes and even mental illness. On the social front, it strains marriages and breaks down family unity, as the breadwinner is always away hunting for jobs.
Economists say the solution to this problem lies in the government improving the economy’s performance and reducing inflation.