Thousands of post office workers fear ruin

South African Post Office (Sapo) workers marched in protest to the department of communications and digital technologies in Pretoria yesterday.

The workers say they are still not being heard, despite the retrenchments of up to 6 000 people being halted for now.

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Workers question the retrenchment agreement and decision to tap into support from the Unemployment Insurance Fund’s Temporary Employment (UIF) Relief Scheme (Ters) as a last resort.

The workers’ spokesperson, Tutu Mokoena, said they were angry that since 2020 pension funds had been deducted from employees but not deposited into the fund.

Funds not deposited correctly

Mokoena said medical aid and UIF had also been paid but not deposited into the relevant funds.

“The minister thinks he is doing the right thing by talking to the unions, but he does not know that the unions didn’t have a mandate from the workers.

“Six thousand workers signed a petition to say they are not happy with the discussions taking place up there. Their voices are not being heard,” he said.

Mokoena said Sapo workers have been dealt a huge blow. “A total of 6 000 of them face being retrenched and they have to wait for funds that have been deducted,” he added.

Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) acting national spokesperson and parliamentary coordinator Matthew Parks wasn’t aware of the march.

He said just last week Cosatu applauded Sapo’s agreement to halt retrenchments Thousands of post office workers fear ruin Sapo crumbles Judiciary in turmoil of 6 000 workers and to tap into support from the UIF’s Ters to pay staff over the next 12 months.

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Rhodes Business School director associate prof Owen Skae said that even if the relief was obtained, it would be temporary.

“The business model of the Sapo in its current form is no longer fit for purpose. A drastic overhaul is required along with a board that understands the modern post office must be nimble, agile, and have up-to-date IT systems and a range of services that enable cross-subsidisation, but which are also cost competitive,” he said.

Skae said should the Ters relief not be forthcoming by the end of May, all retrenchment letters that have been withdrawn would be reinstated and any amounts payable by the Sapo would be paid subject to the availability of cash.

“It is another example of a failed state-owned enterprise that has not been able to transform to deal with an increasingly competitive environment. Sapo owes billions of rands and is effectively insolvent.

“Government forcing it into business rescue to keep the creditors at bay while not giving the business rescue practitioners any leeway to make the tough decisions is disingenuous,” he said.

Skae said when Mark Barnes allegedly resigned as CEO in 2019, he suggested that Sapo and Postbank should be fully integrated.

“The government took another view, and five years later Sapo is on its knees with no resolution in sight unless it is recapitalised using taxpayer money,” he said. Political analyst Khanya Vilakazi said the downfall of Sapo lay in the fact that e-mails were now preferred over letters.

“Sapo should have partnered with delivery services to fill the gap in the market, but instead stores like Pep saw the gap with Paxi,” he said.

Political analyst Roland Henwood said the post office was in a real mess, with incompetence and confusion at leadership level.