Cape Town — Workers who were retrenched from the South African Post Office (SAPO) are not happy with receiving their severance package in stages.
At the start of last month, SAPO announced that nearly 5 000 workers were to be retrenched after an unsuccessful application for the Temporary Employee Relief Scheme (TERS).
According to SABC News, SAPO confirmed that the retrenched workers will receive their benefits starting this month, earlier than the agreed-upon date of end-June. SAPO’s Joint Business Rescue practitioners, Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons, said the necessary adminstration requirements are now complete regarding the first porton of payments, but the workers were not happy to receive it in instalments
.Acting Head of Legal for the Business Rescue Practitioners, Mukovhe Ravhura, has dismissed suggestions that the Post Office was failing to make the payments.
“As we are sitting here guys already, a touch base has been issued clarifying that payment is coming. Whoever said payment is not coming, that’s a lie. Payment is coming. You will start receiving your payment from next week,” Ravhura said.
According to EWN, a representative of the retrenched workers, Motshabi Matloha, said the payment process was handled clumsily.
“We haven’t been getting any salaries, no severance package, nothing. We go to UIF [Unemployment Insurance Fund] and they tell you something else, they tell you, you still deployed that’s why workers have taken it upon themselves to visit the head offices to get answers.” Matloha said.
Several workers also expressed their disappointment at the way SAPO handled the payments. Thabang Nkoana and Yvette White were among the workers to be retrenched and they both face struggles.
“Life has been very hard. There is no money for the children’s school transport, groceries and rent. We are suffering a lot, even our policies have lapsed.” Nkoana said.
“I’m barely surviving, I have been surviving on the prayer of god. I have been surviving on the God’s mercy. God’s mercy has been pulling me through.” White said.
SAPO’s business rescue practitioners said they have paid the UIF, adding that retrenched workers can start claiming their unemployment benefits.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
