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A branch of the SA Post Office Office.
The South African Post Office (SAPO) has entered into a R381 million agreement with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) aimed at preserving jobs and supporting the organisation’s recovery plan.
The funding will be provided through the UIF’s Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) over a six-month period. The agreement is expected to help safeguard close to 6 000 jobs at the financially distressed entity.
Employment and Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth confirms the partnership on Monday, stating that the initiative forms part of efforts to stabilise SAPO.
TERS Coordinator at UIF, Rachel Taukobung, says the funds are strictly allocated for salary payments.
“This is only for salaries and we are saying that as we save the post office, their payroll funds – the R381 million that they would have ordinarily paid to the employees – will be used elsewhere in terms of their turnaround strategy that they have implemented,” says Taukobung.
She adds, “So the post office will, on a monthly basis, see measures from the implementation of that turnaround strategy, including the verification that the money has been paid to the employees.”
She stresses that the Post Office will need to demonstrate progress on its recovery plan through monthly updates.
“On a monthly basis, we will also check in terms of contributions. We’ll verify that the employees are still declared with the UIF and that the payments are being made to the UIF,” Taukobung explains.
“One of the conditions is that you need to indicate that you will still be responsible for the basic social package of the employees — contributing to the UIF, contributing to the medical aid and pension schemes, and all other things that you contribute to on behalf of your employees. So that will also be monitored,” she says.
In 2024, the Deputy Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Mondli Gungubele says the government promised to allocate R3.8 billion to fully implement the business rescue plan at the South African Post Office (SAPO).
The entity has warned that it will run out of money by next month, putting it at risk of liquidation.
The business rescue practitioners gave the warning in a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Communications on Tuesday.
SAPO was placed under business rescue in July last year.
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