Spokesperson for the South African Post Office Nobuhle Njapha has denied claims of plans to retrench employees.
She says negotiations are under way between the unions representing workers, the employer and government.
Earlier this year, Treasury projected that the number of Post Office employees would shrink from over 16 000 in the 2021-2022 financial year to just over 10 000 by 2024.
Njapha says a decision has not yet been taken.
“The SA Post Office assured its employees that there are no retrenchments at this stage. They are in talks with the unions as well as the government. Whatever will be implemented will be on what has been agreed upon between the parties involved.”
Unions gearing up for strike action
Unions however say that the Post Office has announced plans to start consulting on Section 189 retrenchments.
President of the Communication Workers Union, Clyde Mervin, has outlined a number of issues with the Post Office.
Clyde says a Section 189 notice was issued to the union on the 5th of November.
During another meeting on the 31st of August, Clyde said the CWU rejected a proposal tabled by the Post Office to cut worker salaries by 50%.
The Auditor-General recently told Parliament that the Post Office raked up losses of R2.2 billion and liabilities of R6.5 billion in the 2021/22 financial year.
Clyde said this reveals that there is no consequent management on the fruitless expenditure of the Post Office.
Staff members have also had their medical aids suspended by MEDIPOS when the Post Office failed to settle its debts.
Clyde says they are planning a massive strike action.
He elaborates in the video below:
