Post Office owes MILLIONS in staff medical aid, UIF contributions

The South African Post Office has failed to pay R700 million towards their staff medical aid, leaving thousands of workers at risk of losing their medical cover.

MILLIONS OWED FOR MEDICAL COVER OF POST OFFICE STAFF

At least 22 000 staff members of the South African Post Office have outstanding medical aid accounts as the entity has failed to pay R700 million to the medical covers.

This was revealed to the Democratic Alliance (DA) during this week’s Parliamentary communication portfolio committee meeting.

DA Shadow Minister of Communications Dianne Kohler Barnard asked the postal service representatives about this revelation during the Parliamentary meeting, she said.

“And it was freely admitted that the Board were fully aware of the medical aid contribution not being paid.”

Dianne Kohler Barnard

They claimed that the portion paid monthly by staff members and deducted automatically from their salaries was paid to the medical aid. However, it was the two-thirds portion which was supposed to be paid by the Post Office which they failed to pay, she said.

“The claim was then made that they were talking to the medical aid about the situation. It was stated that the contributions were not paid because the Post Office does not make enough money. This seems to be fraud on a grand scale,” Kohler-Barnard said.

ALSO READ: JUST IN: Brian Molefe, others granted bail for alleged Transnet fraud

DA REPORTS ‘LARGE SCALE FRAUD’ TO THE HAWKS

The DA has written to the National Head of the Hawks, Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya, to request an investigation into what they call “large-scale fraud” at the Post Office.

Kohler-Barnard says there are further claims in a report before the portfolio committee that they have also not been paying pension contribution, Unemployment Insurance Fund, income tax and Value-Added Tax (VAT).

“Not only has the Post Office been in an array and a state of dysfunctionality for a decade, but it has been proven to be just another failed ANC state-owned enterprise (SOE). Since I have been assigned to this portfolio a few weeks ago, my inbox has been filling with appeals from all over the country that the only local Post Office has been summarily closed.”

For example, the Post Office in Underberg was closed due to rent being unpaid for over a year. The property, which had been rented since 2015, hasn’t received rental payments in the last few years. This includes payment of electricity and water bills which were irregular and, in most cases, not paid at all.

The debt at that Post Office now stands at a large R243 000.

“The owners of these Post Offices are simply told that there are no funds available.”

ALSO READ: KZN DG arrested for allegedly intimidating Mhlathuze Water Board chairperson

GOVERNMENT CONTEMPLATES FUNDING THE POST OFFICE

What is of frustration, said Kohler-Barnard, is that it is being contemplated that further millions of tax payer’s money will be spent on bailing out the SOE.

“This after a cool R80 billion just wasn’t enough to turn the entity around. Despite receiving this king’s ransom, they still managed to rack up a loss of R1.7 billion in 2020, with an even bigger loss projected for 2021.”

She says the only two options are for the Post Office to be privatised or shutdown completely.

“The Hawks will soon reveal who exactly is scoring from this alleged fraud,” she said.

ALSO READ: Nearly 300 government workers moonlight as municipal councillors