Post office out of funds to pay EPWP workers
Eastern Cape Expanded Public Workers Programme (EPWP) workers were left stranded as the Post Office entity that the department has entrusted with processing the payment of the workers, allegedly ran out of funds to pay all the workers.
The affected areas include Mbizana in the Alfred Ndzo District,
Eastern Cape Transport MEC, Xolile Nqatha described the scandal regrettable and unacceptable.
“Firstly, I have to extend my sympathy to the workers for this regrettable incident. I have instructed department officials to work closely with SAPO to resolve this problem. It is worth noting that the nonpayment of the workers is not the doing of the department, but we will work closely with SAPO to ensure that the workers get what is due to them,” said MEC Nqatha.
MEC Nqatha has since instructed officials in the department to work closely with the South African Post Office (SAPO) and the Post Bank, to ensure that there is no repeat of this incident.
“From the meeting between the department and SAPO in Bizana, it had emerged that inadequate cash to pay all beneficiaries was the main reason for the nonpayment of the EPWP workers. This is partly due to the inability to sustain and meet the high demand for cash volumes on month-end days as social grant beneficiaries also get their payout at the post office. The cautious stance the branch had taken to keep less cash on site after experiencing incidents of robberies has also been cited as a contributing factor to the unfortunate incident of earlier this month, said MEC Nqatha
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