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End to Post Office strike may be imminent

Cape Town - An announcement should be made on Monday night that will signal the end of the long-running postal strike. 

A deal, apparently brokered by Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Siyabonga Cwele, has been put by SA Post Office (Sapo) management to striking workers. At the same time, according to management sources, Sapo executive board members have received letters requesting them to give reasons why they should not be asked to step down.

Mismanagement, coupled with allegations of fraud and nepotism, have dogged this parastatal for years. Until this week, unions complained that management refused to negotiate with them, with the result that the largest of the three labour organisations, the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU), called and maintained a strike.  

It was also the CWU that three years ago requested an investigation by the public protector into claimed mismanagement, fraud and nepotism at Sapo involving up to R2.1bn. This followed years of complaints about senior management allegedly hiring staff through “buddy-buddy” labour brokers at costs higher than permanent staff.

However, because of capacity constraints, the public protector investigation was outsourced and, when submitted, was not of a sufficient standard. “It has been a very long time coming,” said CWU general secretary Aubrey Tshabalala. The union has made it clear that, if the report substantiates the detailed complaints of the CWU, criminal charges should follow.

In this the CWU is supported by the South African Postal Workers’ Union (Sapwu). The union's members did not join the strike, but it supported the CWU contention that Sapo has been riddled with waste, mismanagement and probable fraud.  

Because of financial constraints - “Entirely the responsibility of management,” said Tshabalala - it is understood that the pay offer to Sapo workers for this year has been pegged at 6.5%. However, there is  an undertaking that a further increase could be possible in January “if and when matters stabilise”.

One issue that the unions have won is the removal of labour brokers from providing sometimes long-term workers for Sapo.

 - Fin24

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