STRIKING Zimbabwean nurses remained defiant yesterday in the face of mass sackings by the government.

In a letter to its members their union, the Zimbabwean Nurses Association (Zina) urged nurses to “remain calm” following a press statement issued by the government which announced the dismissal of 15,000 nurses.

Zimbabwe’s Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga said he sacked the nurses “in the interest of patient safety” for refusing to return to work after the government had “acted in good faith” by issuing the health ministry more than $17 million (£12m) to pay outstanding allowances.

But the nurses said they wanted to see the money in their accounts first and would be continuing their strike.

Mr Chiwenga, who led the overthrow of former president Robert Mugabe, said the continuation of the strikes was “politically motivated … going beyond concerns of conditions of service and worker welfare.”

In a press statement he said that the government had fired all the striking nurses “with immediate effect.” 

He instructed the Health Ministry to engage with unemployed nurses and to recall those who have retired. The funds initially allocated to meet the outstanding payments at the source of the dispute will be redirected to meet the cost, the statement said.

The action by nurses over pay comes after a doctors strike earlier this year provoked a “national crisis,” with hospitals forced to turn away patients.

Zimbabwe’s health service is marked by low wages and outdated equipment and its reform presents a major challenge for the country’s new President Emmerson Mnangangwa.

The mass sackings are thought by many to be a tactic to force nurses back to work.

However Zina said that the position remained the same as that already submitted to the government.

“As a result we advise all nurses that nothing has changed thus far with regards our industrial action which is ongoing,” its letter stated.

The action caused disruption in hospitals as the country was celebrating the 38th anniversary of independence.

In his address to the nation Mr Mnangangwa said the anniversary was a second independence, a new period of openness and freedom.

Banners were draped inside Harare’s national stadium calling for free, fair and credible elections, which are expected to be held in September.