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Zim teachers threaten strike
04/05/2008 16:11 - (SA)
Angus Shaw
Harare - Educators have become targets in Zimbabwe's post-election violence, a teachers union said on Sunday, threatening a nationwide strike unless the government stops the attacks.
Zimbabwe's opposition and international and local human rights groups have accused the ruling party, its militant allies and the army of waging a campaign of terror since President Robert Mugabe came in second in presidential elections March 29. Electoral officials have said a second round of voting is necessary because neither Mugabe nor his rival Morgan Tsvangirai won a simple majority, and there are fears of increased violence in the lead-up to the runoff.
Teachers have traditionally assisted in running elections. The Progressive Teachers Union said on Sunday the violent campaign against them - respected figures in local communities - was meant to instil fear and prevent them from participating as polling officers in the run-off.
Run-off date not set
"Whoever is calling himself the government should act to stop violence in schools or we will be forced to act," the union said, adding it was considering calling a nationwide strike.
The union said more than 1 700 teachers have fled violence. It said its members were under attack across the country and urged teachers to withdraw from "politically volatile zones." It also said disruptions in schools threatened examinations scheduled in June in rural schools.
It said 133 members were assaulted in the past week and 496 were "interrogated over election matters." Other rural teachers were forced to pay a "repentance fee" in money, cattle or goats.
Human Rights Watch said last week it had received reports that more than 100 polling station officers - most of them teachers and low-ranking civil servants - had been detained in an eastern province. The New York-based watchdog described that as an indication the government and its loyalists were targeting those seen as betraying Mugabe.
Mugabe's officials have denied fomenting political violence, instead accusing the opposition of being behind the unrest.
Thokozani Khupe, vice president of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said on Saturday that the group still believed a run-off was unnecessary, maintaining Tsvangirai won the first round outright.
At a news conference on Saturday, Khupe called on the Southern African Development Committee to help verify the results.
"We still need to be convinced before we participate in a run-off," she said.
No run-off date has been set. Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga said the constitution requires a second round no sooner than 21 days from the announcement of the results, and no later than a year.
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