The South African Post Office (Sapo) has closed another 92 post offices, with 50 of them being closed by unpaid landlords.
This was according to the DA, which said it was revealed during a portfolio committee meeting.
The closure of these post offices will lead to thousands of residents losing what is frequently the only access point for their grants or savings.
During Finance Minister Enoch Godongwa’s Budget speech it was announced that the South African Post Office would receive R2.4 billion.
“For the Sapo staff, this is a further blow which follows news of a proposed 40% salary deduction and 6 000 job cuts. As Sapo completed a final death spiral, the government last week tossed some air under its wings in the form of a R2.6bn billion – which may slightly dent the debts of R5.4bn,” the DA said on Wednesday.
In October, Johan Kruger, the head of communications for the SA Post Office, stated that 1 200 post offices were functioning.
“The current number is down to a shocking 1 122, providing insight into the entity’s significant deterioration.” the DA said.
The closure of post offices has the knock-on effect of denying people access to critical services, particularly for those in rural communities who rely on post offices as their primary means of obtaining their social grants.
Sapo chief executive Nomkhita Mona said the SA Post Office last posted a profit in 2004, and the decline in its financial position began as far back as 17 years ago.
Mona said the recession in 2008 and the adoption of smartphones accelerated the decline.
In February, the Communication Workers’ Union said it will take action to “ensure no jobs are lost” after the Post Office announced that it was contemplating reducing staff numbers.
The union said the proposed retrenchments could see 6 000 jobs lost, leaving thousands of families without breadwinners.
In response, Sapo spokesperson Johan Kruger confirmed that the entity was in consultation with labour unions.
“The Post Office brought this matter to the table in November 2022. The first letter to the unions to introduce the Section 189 (retrenchment) process was in November 2022. Prior to that, there have been a number of engagements with all unions recognised at the SA Post Office, considering and exploring the various options to reduce the high cost of employment. These engagements still continue,” he said.
Kruger added that salary costs made up 68% of total expenditure and had to be addressed urgently.
Listen to what DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard, the party’s communications spokesperson, had to say about the post office closures below:
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