Post office workers march for bailout and salary increases

Angry post office workers from the SA Post Office marched from the Union Buildings to the department of communications and digital technologies yesterday to hand over a memorandum of demands – including an immediate increase and a bailout of R3.8 billion.

The march was joined by the South African Federation of Trade Unions, Democratic Postal and Communications Union (Depacu), Sapu, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Cosatu, as part of a national shutdown and mass march to defend the post office.

Workers escalate pressure with national shutdown

This after nine years of no salary increases, collapsing infrastructure and continued neglect of the entity.

Workers are demanding an immediate R5 000 across-the-board salary adjustment, 30% allocation of government business to the post office and R3.8 billion to stabilise operations.

They also want full job security and a moratorium on retrenchments, a turnaround strategy with labour consultation, a time-bound exit strategy for business rescue practitioners without liquidation and consultation on restructuring

The workers warned should their demands not be met by their deadline, the consequences will be dire.

Unions highlight years of neglect

Depacu general secretary Kodisang Bokaba said all the unions were united to highlight the plight of suffering workers from the closure of post office branches, the collapse of infrastructure and the absence of skills development.

CWU national organiser Moffat Seutlwadi said the government wasn’t willing to digitalise the post office to make it competitive.

“If there was political will the government and Treasury would fund us, but now the government is making excuses. We wrote to the minister, who responded saying they had other meetings on the day and wouldn’t be able to accept the memorandum,” he added.

‘They should just close it already’

Senior political lecturer at North-West University Benjamin Rapanyane said the postal service has collapsed due to financial insolvency, a massive burden that exceeds R8 billion and operational failures.

Political analyst Piet Croucamp said when Mark Barnes was CEO of the post office they managed to grow assets in three to five years and had a capital base with 63%.

“A couple of years ago, somebody offered R5 billion to buy the post office; it would have been off the hands of government with all the assets and the debt, and government refused to sell it,” he said.

Croucamp said this year they asked for a R4.5 billion bailout.

Economist Dawie Roodt said the post office can’t be saved.

“They should just close it already, because the ANC destroyed it.”