South Africa’s unionized postal workers downed tools on Thursday over demands for higher wages as well as grievances related to their health care and back pay.
On November 24, 2022, striking postal workers marched to the parliament. Photo: Kevin Brandt/Eyewitness News
CAPE TOWN – The Communications Workers Union (CWU) has given the government one month to respond to a list of demands from its members.
South Africa’s unionized postal workers downed tools on Thursday over demands for higher wages as well as grievances related to their health care and back pay.
READ: South African post office workers go to a meeting, trade union buildings, demand a 15% salary increase.
CWU provincial secretary Wayne Bredenkamp said the government should also save South Africa Post to stabilize the state entity.
“If you have a post office at one point and there’s another post office 500 meters down the road, we agree to close that one, at least there is one. Now we are closing post offices in rural areas, where there is only one.”
Malvern de Bruyn, provincial secretary of the Cosatu trade union federation, said the poor would suffer if more post offices were closed.
“The mail is our mail; we use the post office on a daily basis.’
Earlier this week, Auditor-General Tsakane Maluleka stressed that the Post Office, as well as other state-owned enterprises, needed urgent intervention as its turnaround strategies were either not working or had not been fully implemented.
