SAPO once again stops medical aid payments

9 November 2022

The situation at the South African Post Office (SAPO) has reached a critical point and the DA will today report the SAPO executive to the CCMA.

The DA is apalled to discover this morning, that the SAPO has once again resumed its fraudulent practice of failing to pay over the staff and pensioner’s medical aid contributions. The amounts are taken from their monthly salaries, but simply kept by the management.

One would remember that the SAPO had earlier this year failed to pay over R700 million in Medical Aid (Medipos) contributions. Despite public outrage and a Hawks investigation that is at an advanced stage, they have once again resorted to stealing from their staff.

After the SAPO grudgingly handing over R65 million to the medical aid last month, Medipos agreed to continue providing medical aid cover to the 10 000+ SAPO workers and their families, as well as the pensioners. But once again, they have decided to not make payment to the Medical Aid. They continue to argue that this is because of a dire financial situation at the SAPO. It is absolute fraud, when medical aid deductions are taken from your salary and not being paid over to a Medical Aid.

This comes on top of the devastating news that SAPO has decided to retrench 6000 employees. The troubled SAPO is set to launch another round of retrenchments because it is penniless and desperately needs to cut expenses. The SAPO has been losing massive amounts of money for the last 15 years, which has now also lead to the Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana, putting his foot down to another bailout. This in the face of a boom in e-commerce-related and other deliveries. It had, until recently, a massive national footprint. And still the ANC refuses to follow the global move to privatising the postal services.

The SAPO is another massively failed SOE, thanks to ANC incompetence and thievery. The DA will not rest until those responsible have been held accountable for the gross mismanagement and thievery that is taking place at the entity.

Issued by Dianne Kohler Barnard, DA Shadow Minister of Communications, 10 November 2022