And hospitals used by many civil servants have also closed doors because the government has failed to pay about R600 million it owes the medical aid society to which most civil servants belong.

The Premier Medical Aid Society (PSMAS), which was already in financial trouble because of maladministration, claims it is unable to operate until the government pays its outstanding dues.

The striking doctors are employed by Premier Service Medical Investment (PSMI), a subsidiary of PSMAS, which says it has insufficient funds to pay medical staff or keep its hospitals, laboratories and other facilities open.

PSMAS chairman, Jeremiah Bvirindi, told media in Harare this week that his board hoped to find a solution by the weekend.

“Our problem is that 75% of PSMI business is civil service, which also translates to 75 percent of our revenue. We have approached the government to get them to at least pay something so we can in turn pay our medical staff.”

PSMI is the investment wing of the medical aid society and was established more than 15 years ago to safeguard membership funds.

PSMAS is Zimbabwe’s oldest and largest medical society.

Civil servants complained this week they had no spare cash to seek alternative medical care as their monthly medical aid subscriptions had been deducted from their wages before the strike began.

Unlike most privately owned hospitals, most of those owned and managed by PSMI do not usually seek payment in advance from members.

ANA