The Post Office does not have enough funds to cover medical expenses

The South African Post Office (SAPO) has failed to pay over-staff medical aid contributions to its medical aid provider, Medipos, for the second time in two months, as the entity’s financial crisis worsens.

The DA has since stated that it will report the entity to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) for its continued failure to pay medical aid contributions.

Solidarity had to take SAPO to the Labour Court in October to force it to pay R4.5 million in contributions. SAPO failed to keep up with the contributions of its thousands of employees again a month later.

In a statement, DA MP Diane Kohler-Barnard said she would report SAPO management to the CCMA about the crisis.

“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 Medipos contributions,” said Kohler-Barnard.

Kohler-Barnard dismissed any suggestion that the medical aid crisis was caused by the entity’s financial situation, calling the situation “absolute fraud.”

SAPO spokesperson Johan Kruger told News24 that the organisation had yet again struggled to pay medical aid contributions for November due to financial difficulties, but that it was playing open cards with employees and working toward a solution.

“The Post Office was unable to pay medical aid contributions this month owing to cash flow issues. Employees were informed immediately and the Post Office is implementing long-term plans to improve its finances,” said Kruger.

SAPO is also considering layoffs to reduce its financial burden, but these are in the early stages. It is also scrambling to keep IT systems for the distribution of social grants operational, as a contract with Telkom for this purpose is set to expire soon.