Zimbabwean authorities are reported to have offered residential land to government employees instead of the usual annual bonuses.
Reuters reports that the country’s labour unions rejected the proposal, saying the land offered was not of much value.
The southern African nation’s economy stagnated last year, fanning anti-government protests and compounding President Robert Mugabe’s problems ahead of national elections due in 2018.
Zimbabwe’s public sector workers are paid an annual bonus equivalent to a month’s salary every November and December but the government – which spends more than $250 million monthly on salaries – has not said when it will make the 2016 payment.
The residential lands are seen as unattractive, with reports saying most of them lack basic amenities such as roads, electricity and sewerage, making them difficult to settle on or sell.
Raymond Majongwe, secretary general of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, described the government’s offer as “madness” and said unions rejected it at a meeting on Wednesday.
