Informatics Publishing Limited

Abstract

The salary gate scandals that broke out in the mainstream print media in late 2013 were a defining moment in the history of state enterprises, parastatals or quasi government firms in Zimbabwe. The revelations by media outlets exposed the rot in corporate governance of some strategic national companies, where managers earned up to US$530 000 a month against the background of non-performing economy, towering loses and poor service delivery. Most notorious being Premier Service Medical Aid Society PSMAS and Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation ZBC, who both hogged the limelight parallel to the public outrage over preposterous incomes afforded to chief executive officers. The study therefore sought to assess and evaluate, for such organizations, the impact of the salary gate scandals on corporate reputations in the public relations framework. The study sought to determine, the public’s trust of PSMAS and ZBC in the wake of the malpractices. The research explored institutional corruption, public relations and media discourses, while referencing Zimbabwe’s ranking on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index. Earlier scandals like Willowgate backdrop the nature of impropriety by institutions, and officials mandated to safeguard public interest in the country that eventually set the tone to what is now widely known as the exposes of salary gate. Public opinion was a central complimentary theme in the study, the selected newspapers; The Chronicle and The Daily News stories on salary gate were used in the study as exhibits to demonstrate the extent of reputation damage on Zimbabwe’s national companies. The major participants in the study were stakeholders, staff at companies implicated and broader members of society who were interrogated to provide insights on deeper perspective on salary gate scandals in the country. The generated data from publications and questionnaire responses from the public was analysed qualitatively. Findings revealed that the majority of Zimbabweans viewed salary gate as gross betrayal of the liberation struggle, where few individuals personalized state wealth and resources. The study therefore recommended better forms of conduct for national companies to avoid recurrence of such gross impropriety. 

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