It was all hands on deck as post office staff got dirty on spring clean day, Wednesday August 31.
The Brackenfell and Kraaifontein post offices joined other branches all over South Africa as post office staff celebrated the end of crippling labour unrest that has plagued post offices nationwide and also caused closures of certain branches.
The day saw post office employees from nearby administrative offices volunteer to help clean the Brackenfell branch.
Area manager Pumla Mbiza said the SA Reserve Bank recently approved a first-level application for Postbank to receive a banking licence.
He added this will be followed by steps to include the approval of a Postbank board of nominees, the registration of Postbank as a company with its own governance structures, formalisation of the relationship between the SA Post Office and Postbank, and transfer of business from the SA Post Office to the new company.
All 1 500 branches countrywide have Postbank services.
Mr Mbiza said post offices were also celebrating the landmark agreement with the trade unions, the Democratic Postal and Communications Union (DEPACU), the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) and the South African Postal Workers Union (SAPWU), to settle wages and conditions of employment from 2014 to the period ending 2016/2017.
An agreement was also reached with financial institutions to alow the SA Post Office to pay debts from the period of labour unrest and to be able to foot the bill to re-launch its services. The SA Post Office is expanding its services to include registered email, which has the same legal validity as paper-based registered mail. It is also launching a parcel-tracking app.
