Several windows were broken and thousands of mail items were trashed all over the sorting room and street at the Benoni Post Office this morning, allegedly by striking employees. Kevin van der List | 6 October 2014 A security guard at the premises told the City Times this morning that close to 400 people were behind the violent protest. Hundreds of the protesters descended on the premises at around 11.30am. According to the security guard, the people trashed the premises at the front (Ampthill Avenue) and back (Lake Avenue) sections of the post office for about five minutes before dispersing. An employee at the Benoni Post Office said working staff were escorted to a place of safety inside the post office as the violence broke out. Many of the staff were traumatised by the incident, with one of the workers describing the incident as “shocking” and another saying she needed hospitalisation after the ordeal. A case of public violence has been opened at the Benoni Police Station. The post office could not immediately be reached for comment on this issue. South African Post Office employees have been participating in various unprotected strikes since January, which has caused interruptions in postal sorting and distribution processes, resulting in delays in postal and parcel deliveries. South African Post Office East Rand spokesperson Malusi Fuphe said the strikes were caused by the implementation of the Post Office Flexible Labour Strategy, which was approved in 2013 to convert 7 945 casual workers into permanent employees. He said the strategy adopted a phased approach, where casual workers were offered permanent but part-time positions as an alternative to being contracted to the company via labour brokers. Lungile Lose, spokesman for the SA Post Office, said this morning that the mail delivery delay backlog is currently standing at six weeks. He said talks to end the strike continue and they hope a solution will be reached soon. It is not yet clear how this morning’s damage to the post office will affect postal delivery. Are you a witness to the incident? If so, email [email protected].
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 06:55:09 +0000
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