Communication Workers Union (CWU) is saddened by the brutal murder of a South African Post Office worker in Sebokeng Post Office (Retail Office) which transpired last week Thursday on the 9th of September 2021. A 34 year old man; Isaiah  Motsapi who was a teller in the Post Office was shot dead at the robbery where  R200 000 was allegedly stolen.

It is reported that the cold blooded murder incident happened when an alleged group of heavily armed men came in to rob the retail office. These types of burglaries in the South African Post Office have been on the rise and workers have been at the  receiving end. In a number of occasions, workers have been assaulted, their personal belongings have been stolen such as cell phones, money and accessory items. It appears that criminals target Post Office because of the lump sum of money that is delivered to SAPO in order to facilitate payments of social grants. The union has always raised a red flag to the Post Office board and to the State, that the delivery of money poses dangers to grant beneficiaries and to workers. It does not make business sense for the money to be delivered on the day of the payments, since Post Office; as it is an agency, will not even get some interest on the money as part of the revenue. Furthermore, it inconveniences recipients of the grants not to utilise their Post Bank/SAPO cards to withdraw at their convenient time in any retail. At times, the social grants earners have been turned back due to insufficient funds and that causes the beneficiaries to be irate. This practice is not to the benefit of anyone and no sound explanation has been given coming from the Treasury or the Department.

We are calling for improvement in the provision of security measures; both for the      workers and for the beneficiaries of social grants. In addition, we believe that the Motsapi family has to be adequately compensated. Our members and workers in general can no longer afford to come to work in fear of being robbed, threatened,  assaulted or murdered.

 The end

 Issued by the office of the General Secretary CWU

 Contact:

CWU General Secretary

Aubrey Tshabalala

Cell: 061 481 1080