Zim Magistrates Resume Work

Sources privy to Thursday’s discussions entered between the magistrates and their employer, the Judicial Service Commission told Radio VOP on Friday that the entry point for a magistrate will now be US$490.

“The whole salary spectrum is between US$490 and slightly above US$1120,” said a Harare magistrate on condition of anonymity.

Currently, Zimbabwe’s magistrates are getting salaries of between $200 and $300. They were demanding salaries ranging from $1000 for the lowest paid to $3500.

According to the sources, the new salary structure is with effect from April 1 this year.

Another magistrate interviewed on condition of anonymity said the new salaries, although falling short of what they were demanding, were “satisfactory”.

Reached for comment Magistrates Association of Zimbabwe (MAZ) secretary general Munamato Mutevedzi refused to discuss the new salaries.

“We issued a statement yesterday. We cannot comment on anything outside the statement,” he said.

In Thursday’s statement issued jointly by the Judicial Service Commission, the Chief Magistrate and MAZ, the parties agreed the magistrates would resume work immediately while negotiations continued.

“Negotiations between the JSC and the MAZ are continuing. We wish to notify wish to notify the nation that magistrates, being judicial officers, remain deeply touched by the plight of the general public who have been prejudiced by the impasse between us,” read the statement in part.