Thousands of postal workers to lose jobs
HOPES for the resuscitation of already-closed Post
Office branches in King Cetshwayo District have been dashed.
This after an announcement last week by the SAPO's Joint Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs) that mass retrenchments can be expected countrywide.
A total of 4 889 people will lose their jobs following the entity's TERS (Temporary Employer Employee Relief Scheme) application being rejected by the Single Adjudication Committee.
The ruling, issued to the BRPs from the CCMA commissioner, follows a joint application by the business rescue team and relevant labour unions to the Single Adjudication Committee to seek TERS relief funding for the Post Office’s bargaining unit staff.
Business rescue practitioner Anoosh
Rooplal said they were very disappointed with the unsuccessful application, as they were hopeful that the TERS funding would provide temporary relief to the bargaining unit staff members.
He said the funding would have effectively been used to up-skill and retrain staff for possible job placements while still earning a salary.
Rooplal alluded that the Department of Communications and
Digital Technologies had also offered to assist with finding placement positions for staff after their upskilling to mitigate job losses, which is likely to add to the 32.1% unemployment rate as at the fourth quarter of 2023, according to Statistics SA.
“We are conscious of the turmoil that this application and subsequent rejection will, and have, caused the bargaining unit staff members and their families, and for that, we are deeply sorry,” said Rooplal.
As was noted in the application agreement, the withdrawal of the termination letters was conditional on the success of the TERS application and if not successful, as is the case, the bargaining unit category of employees would revert to the current position and so be retrenched.
“We tried our very best and acted in good faith together with the unions to make a final attempt to apply for TERS relief funding, to limit the impact on possible retrenchments and provide temporary relief for the bargaining unit,” he said.
'Right-sizing' the Post Office
According to Rooplal, the business rescue plan noted that the organisation lacks skills and leadership, management and technical expertise across the business.
This needs to be appropriately strengthened and developed, which is necessary to drive a culture change towards a highperformance organisation.
He added that after an extensive analysis of the employee base, the plan proposes to rightsize the business through the retrenchment of approximately 6 000 of the 11 083 total employee base. This action will reduce the annual employee cost by approximately R1.2-billion.
These recent developments have since diminished SAPO communications specialist Suzie Khumalo's hopes for the resuscitation of
King Cetshwayo District's State-owned postal service's closed facilities due to rent and electricity bills.
Speaking to the ZO in
July last year, Khumalo confirmed that only the
Post Office branches in Meerensee and Dlangezwa were left to fully service the region as the Empangeni Rail facility was without electricity and thus could not render some of the services owing to nonpayment.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an SAPO employee of 16 years said, while they have not yet received an official retrenchment letter at the facility where they work, they have seen internal correspondence.
“It is very painful, but there is nothing we can do. I have also seen that we will only be paid for a year if things are to continue this way,” said the seemingly distraught employee.