by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News
The South African Municipal Workers’ Union in the Western Cape welcomes the recent court judgment declaring aspects of the City of Cape Town’s tariff structure unlawful. This judgment is an important victory for residents and communities who have consistently raised concerns about the affordability, legality and fairness of municipal charges imposed by the City. It reaffirms an important principle: municipalities are not above the law. They must exercise public power lawfully, fairly and in the interests of the communities they are constitutionally mandated to serve.
For SAMWU, this judgment raises serious questions about governance, decision-making and the use of public funds by the City of Cape Town. Residents and ratepayers are entitled to know how much public money was spent defending a tariff regime that has now been found to be unlawful. They are equally entitled to know what steps will be taken to ensure that similar unlawful decisions are not repeated in future.
While the City has every right to pursue legitimate legal remedies where genuine disputes exist, such rights must be exercised responsibly. Public resources cannot be treated as an unlimited litigation fund to defend decisions that may have been flawed from the outset. Every rand spent on avoidable and unsuccessful litigation is a rand taken away from service delivery, infrastructure, worker development and community support.
This matter does not affect residents alone. Municipal workers have for years experienced the consequences of a litigation culture in which arbitration awards, court orders and dispute resolution outcomes are routinely challenged by the City, even where workers have already succeeded in proving their cases. This approach delays justice, prolongs suffering and places workers and their families under unnecessary financial and emotional strain.
SAMWU is currently assisting members whose matters have remained before the courts for more than five years, while some workers have spent close to a decade awaiting finality despite having already secured favourable rulings. In other instances, employees who have obtained reinstatement orders continue to face further delays in receiving salaries and back pay legally due to them. Some are even forced to return to court simply to enforce judgments already granted in their favour. This is unacceptable. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Municipal workers are not separate from the communities they serve. They are residents, ratepayers, parents and breadwinners. They face the same rising cost of living, the same municipal charges and the same economic pressures confronting communities across Cape Town. When public funds are wasted on prolonged and unsuccessful litigation, both workers and communities carry the burden.
The Union therefore finds it difficult to understand how the City can publicly raise concerns about the financial implications of adverse judgments while, at the same time, spending significant public resources on litigation that often delays justice for workers and communities alike. Accountability cannot be demanded from residents and workers while being absent from those entrusted with making legal and administrative decisions on behalf of the City.
A municipality genuinely committed to justice should not force workers to spend years enforcing rights they have already won. Nor should it spend public money defending decisions that ultimately fail legal scrutiny.
SAMWU therefore calls on the City of Cape Town to urgently review its litigation strategy, particularly in labour matters. Appeals and review applications should only be pursued where there are genuine and reasonable prospects of success, not as a tactic to delay implementation or frustrate workers who have already won their cases.
The City must publicly account for expenditure incurred in unsuccessful litigation, implement arbitration awards and court orders without unnecessary delay, and strengthen alternative dispute resolution mechanisms where appropriate to avoid wasteful legal costs. Decision-makers must also be held accountable where public funds are repeatedly spent on litigation that ultimately fails.
In particular, SAMWU calls for accountability within Labour Relations Management where advice and decisions repeatedly result in unsuccessful litigation at significant cost to the public purse, while workers and their families are subjected to years of avoidable hardship.
The Union is not suggesting that the City should abandon its legal rights. We are calling for a responsible, balanced and accountable approach that recognises both the financial cost to taxpayers and the human cost to workers.
At a time when communities are struggling with rising living costs and municipal workers continue to provide essential services under difficult conditions, public funds must be used to improve lives, not to prolong disputes that could have been resolved fairly and lawfully.
SAMWU believes accountability must apply equally to all. Just as residents are entitled to demand accountability when public funds are spent defending policies later found to be unlawful, workers are entitled to demand accountability when prolonged legal battles delay justice, prolong suffering and consume scarce public resources.
The City of Cape Town must demonstrate its commitment not only to defending legal disputes, but to fairness, accountability, responsible governance and respect for the rights of both workers and communities.
Issued by SAMWU Western Cape Province
Mhle Dlamini
SAMWU Provincial Secretary
074 706 7943
Or
Shaun Kralo
Deputy Provincial Secretary
060 407 4365
Source: https://mediadon.co.za/samwu-western-cape-welcomes-tariff-judgment-and-demands-accountability-over-public-funds-wasted-on-failed-litigation
by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News
The trade union federation believes fresh leadership can help return SAPO to sustainability and create new opportunities through courier services and an expanded Postbank. Image: Bhekikhaya Mabaso / Independent Newspapers
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has welcomed the appointment of a new board for the South African Post Office (SAPO), describing it as an important step towards rebuilding one of the country’s most recognisable public institutions.
The federation said the appointment answers long standing calls from Cosatu, its affiliate the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU), and SAPO employees for “fresh, competent and committed leadership” capable of steering the struggling entity back to stability.
According to Cosatu, years of weak leadership and the organisation’s inability to adapt to changing trends in the postal and communications sectors have left the Post Office on the brink of collapse.
“For far too long SAPO has been allowed to deteriorate to a state of near collapse,” the federation said.
“The absence of dedicated and fit for purpose leadership has been at the centre of this painful decline in addition to SAPO’s failing to keep pace with structural shifts in the postal and communications sectors.”
The trade union federation was particularly critical of the business rescue process that began in 2023, arguing that it had failed to produce meaningful results while placing a heavy burden on workers.
Cosatu said the tenure of the Business Rescue Practitioners had delivered “nothing to show beyond retrenching thousands of SAPO employees and plunging their families into absolute poverty and despair, closing hundreds of branches and thus further shrinking its customer base and potential to recover.”
It further criticised the fact that workers had gone years without inflation linked wage adjustments, while alleging that the practitioners had ensured “to pay themselves sumptuous fees.”
Recent warnings that SAPO could face liquidation have heightened concerns over the future of the state owned enterprise. Cosatu, however, said liquidation was not an option.
“Cosatu will never agree to the liquidation of SAPO. The only liquidation that must take place is that of the BRPs,” the federation said.
“It is time that the Department approached court to remove the BRPs and provide the Board with the necessary space and support to ensure SAPO is stabilised and set back upon the path to sustainability.”
The federation believes there is precedent for a successful recovery, pointing to the turnaround efforts underway at other state owned enterprises such as Transnet and Metrorail.
“The turnaround of other embattled state owned enterprises from Transnet to Metro Rail proves that they can be fixed and once again contribute to stimulating economic growth and creating jobs with competent management, the removal of criminal and corrupt elements, filling frontline vacancies and recruiting critical skills, and investing in the company’s infrastructure and capacity.”
Cosatu also highlighted legislative changes that it believes could provide SAPO with new revenue streams. The SAPO and Postbank Amendment Acts, passed by the sixth Parliament, allow the Post Office to expand into the lucrative courier market while positioning it as a one stop centre for public services.
At the same time, the legislation enables Postbank to develop into a fully licensed state bank focused on serving working class and rural communities that often struggle to access mainstream banking services.
“The SAPO and Postbank Amendment Acts passed by the 6th Parliament provide a turnaround plan for both institutions, by allowing SAPO to enter the highly lucrative courier business and to become a one stop shop for citizens to access public services and enabling the Postbank to become a fully licensed state bank aimed at working class and rural residents all too often redlined by the private banking sector,” Cosatu said.
Looking ahead, the federation said it would seek urgent engagements with the Ministry and Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies to secure commitments around job protection, outstanding payments to workers and the implementation of a comprehensive recovery strategy.
“It is critical that Treasury provide the necessary financial support to enable such a turnaround to be implemented as a matter of the highest priority,” Cosatu said.
Source: https://businessreport.co.za/companies/2026-06-07-cosatu-backs-fresh-south-african-post-office-leadership-to-revive-struggling-entity
by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News
While official statements portray SASSA as a lifeline, the pensioners who depend on it tell a very different story. A flood of comments responding to a recent exposé has pulled back the curtain on a system that critics say is failing the elderly in plain sight.
For many South Africans, SASSA day at the supermarket is less a celebration and less a payday; it is an exercise in quiet humiliation. Benita Swart described watching pensioners at Shoprite weigh individual pieces of fruit, removing one if the total price was too high.
“These are dignified people, dressed in their best for pension day, who must buy so that there is something every day,” Swart wrote on Facebook comment.
Additionally, her comment, originally posted in Afrikaans, struck a nerve, attracting dozens of reactions from people who recognised the scene immediately.
Prices Go Up, SASSA Grant Does Not
Furthermore, beyond the emotional weight, South Africans are raising practical alarms. Dudley Wright noted a pattern he says repeats itself across supermarkets every month: on SASSA day, prices increase, and specials shift to items pensioners would never buy.
“Why not have items that the pensioners would use at discounted prices, bread, sugar, rice, meat, eggs, fruit and veggies?” Wright asked.
His suggestion has gained traction, with many calling for a formalised pensioner discount structure, similar to models used in other countries.
Payments Going Missing
Perhaps the most alarming thread running through the comments is the number of pensioners reporting missing payments entirely. Yvonne Chinnapper said she received nothing in May and was still waiting on 2 June, having been redirected between SASSA and Postbank with no resolution.
“What do you think, guys, SASSA has taken my pension to have a party,” she wrote.
Also, others echoed her frustration. One commenter wrote in Afrikaans that pensions are “stolen without shame by officials”, a claim that speaks to deeper concerns about accountability at the agency.
Calls for a Complete Rethink
Commenters are not just venting; they are demanding structural change. From subsidised electricity rates for the elderly to a full government review of the pension system, the calls are growing louder.
“The struggle is real,” wrote Zaino Arendse. “It’s time for the government to reevaluate the pension system.”
With living costs continuing to climb and the grant amount remaining largely stagnant, many South Africans say the system is not just broken, it is actively failing the people who need it most.
Source: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/sassa/south-africans-expose-what-sassa-really-does-to-pensioners
by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has welcomed the appointment of a new board for the South African Post Office (SAPO), describing it as an important step towards rebuilding one of the country’s most recognisable public institutions.
The federation said the appointment answers long standing calls from Cosatu, its affiliate the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU), and SAPO employees for “fresh, competent and committed leadership” capable of steering the struggling entity back to stability.
According to Cosatu, years of weak leadership and the organisation’s inability to adapt to changing trends in the postal and communications sectors have left the Post Office on the brink of collapse.
“For far too long SAPO has been allowed to deteriorate to a state of near collapse,” the federation said.
“The absence of dedicated and fit for purpose leadership has been at the centre of this painful decline in addition to SAPO’s failing to keep pace with structural shifts in the postal and communications sectors.”
The trade union federation was particularly critical of the business rescue process that began in 2023, arguing that it had failed to produce meaningful results while placing a heavy burden on workers.
Cosatu said the tenure of the Business Rescue Practitioners had delivered “nothing to show beyond retrenching thousands of SAPO employees and plunging their families into absolute poverty and despair, closing hundreds of branches and thus further shrinking its customer base and potential to recover.”
It further criticised the fact that workers had gone years without inflation linked wage adjustments, while alleging that the practitioners had ensured “to pay themselves sumptuous fees.”
Recent warnings that SAPO could face liquidation have heightened concerns over the future of the state owned enterprise. Cosatu, however, said liquidation was not an option.
“Cosatu will never agree to the liquidation of SAPO. The only liquidation that must take place is that of the BRPs,” the federation said.
“It is time that the Department approached court to remove the BRPs and provide the Board with the necessary space and support to ensure SAPO is stabilised and set back upon the path to sustainability.”
The federation believes there is precedent for a successful recovery, pointing to the turnaround efforts underway at other state owned enterprises such as Transnet and Metrorail.
“The turnaround of other embattled state owned enterprises from Transnet to Metro Rail proves that they can be fixed and once again contribute to stimulating economic growth and creating jobs with competent management, the removal of criminal and corrupt elements, filling frontline vacancies and recruiting critical skills, and investing in the company’s infrastructure and capacity.”
Cosatu also highlighted legislative changes that it believes could provide SAPO with new revenue streams. The SAPO and Postbank Amendment Acts, passed by the sixth Parliament, allow the Post Office to expand into the lucrative courier market while positioning it as a one stop centre for public services.
At the same time, the legislation enables Postbank to develop into a fully licensed state bank focused on serving working class and rural communities that often struggle to access mainstream banking services.
“The SAPO and Postbank Amendment Acts passed by the 6th Parliament provide a turnaround plan for both institutions, by allowing SAPO to enter the highly lucrative courier business and to become a one stop shop for citizens to access public services and enabling the Postbank to become a fully licensed state bank aimed at working class and rural residents all too often redlined by the private banking sector,” Cosatu said.
Looking ahead, the federation said it would seek urgent engagements with the Ministry and Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies to secure commitments around job protection, outstanding payments to workers and the implementation of a comprehensive recovery strategy.
“It is critical that Treasury provide the necessary financial support to enable such a turnaround to be implemented as a matter of the highest priority,” Cosatu said.
Source: https://africannewsagency.com/cosatu-backs-fresh-south-african-post-office-leadership-to-revive-struggling-entity
by Dev_SACCAWU | Labour Market News
Cosatu has welcomed the appointment of a board for the South African Post Office. (ALAN EASON)
Labour federation remains strongly opposed to plans to liquidate the SA Post Office
Labour federation Cosatu has welcomed the board appointment for the South African Post Office after three years in a yet-to-be-finalised business rescue process that has seen about 600 post offices closed.
Business Day reported in March that organised labour had rejected proposals by the business rescue practitioners to liquidate the troubled SA Post Office, saying the move would result in 5,700 workers losing their jobs and push nearly 100,000 dependants deeper into poverty.
Minister of communications & digital technologies Solly Malatsi was questioned by MPs and the rescue practitioners after a letter revealing plans to seek the SA Post Office’s liquidation was leaked.
This was after Haroon Laher of Fasken, the rescue practitioner tasked with the SA Post Office’s business rescue, wrote to Malatsi and his deputy Mondli Gungubele, saying liquidation would be the only way forward unless the government injected cash into the SA Post Office.
The business rescue process has cost R12.6m in rescue fees, R220.1m in consultants and specialists, and R27.9m in external advisory since the 2023/2024 financial year. In March the business rescue practitioners said an additional R3.8bn was needed to finish the rescue process.
In his budget vote in May, Malatstsi allocated R595m.
Last week, the government announced the appointment of the new board for the SA Post Office. Its members are Regina Sizakele Madlala (chair), Margarete Mosibudi Phiri (deputy chair), Vuyo Mafata, Tanya van Meelis, Mantombi Lekhuleni, Mthokozisi Daluxolo Xulu, Mduduzi Justice Kennedy Bophela, Charley Fred Chain, David Mangena and Khonanjalo Buthelezi.
Cosatu parliamentary co-ordinator Matthew Parks said: “For far too long the SA Post Office has been allowed to deteriorate to a state of near collapse. The absence of dedicated and fit-for-purpose leadership has been at the centre of this painful decline in addition to failing to keep pace with structural shifts in the postal and communications sectors.”
Parks said matters had been made worse by the “disastrous tenure of the business rescue practitioners” appointed through a court agreement with the creditors and the department of communications and digital technologies in 2023.
Parks said the business rescue practitioners had “nothing to show beyond retrenching thousands of SA Post Office employees and plunging their families into absolute poverty and despair, closing hundreds of branches and thus further shrinking its customer base and potential to recover”.
“Workers have been left for years without seeing their meagre wages being adjusted for inflation, yet the business rescue practitioners have made sure to pay themselves sumptuous fees. Recent rash threats by the business rescue practitioners to liquidate the SA Post Office have pointed to the urgent need for the appointment of a board that can take charge of the entity and put in place a viable path to recovery,” Parks said.
“Cosatu will never agree to the liquidation. The only liquidation that must take place is that of the business rescue practitioners. It is time that the department approached the courts to remove the business rescue practitioners and provide the board with the necessary space and support to ensure the SA Post Office is stabilised and set back upon the path to sustainability.”
Parks said the turnaround of other embattled state-owned enterprises, from Transnet to Metro Rail, “proves they can be fixed and again contribute to stimulating economic growth and creating jobs with competent management, the removal of criminal and corrupt elements, filling frontline vacancies and recruiting critical skills, and investing in the company’s infrastructure and capacity”.
“The SA Post Office and Postbank Amendment Acts passed by parliament provide a turnaround plan for both institutions by allowing the SA Post Office to enter the highly lucrative courier business and to become a one-stop shop for citizens to access public services and enabling the Postbank to become a fully licensed state bank aimed at working-class and rural residents all too often redlined by the private banking sector,” he said.
“Cosatu will seek urgent engagements with the ministry and parliament’s portfolio committee on communications and digital technologies to provide comfort to workers that their jobs will be secured, money paid and a turnaround plan put in place. It is critical that the National Treasury provide the necessary financial support to enable such a turnaround to be implemented as a matter of the highest priority.”
Source: https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-06-08-why-cosatu-is-backing-sa-post-office-board-appointment
