'Your grants are safe,' says Post Office despite financial woes

The SA Post Office has assured Sassa grant beneficiaries that their payments will not be affected.

This after the Post Office's dire financial situation was laid bare in court.

In a statement on Saturday, the Post Office said that beneficiaries had nothing to worry about as grant money did not come from its revenue.

“The funds for social grants come from National Treasury through the department of social development and are not funded from the revenue of the SA Post Office,” the statement read.

On Monday, the SA Post Office's retirement fund lost a Pretoria high court bid to compel the Post Office to continue making contributions to the retirement fund despite the tough financial challenges now facing the institution due to Covid-19.

Court documents revealed that, as at the end of July, the Post Office had 1,416 operational branches of which only 55 were profitable. Postal services revenue for the month was under budget by 49%, mostly as a result of the Covid-19 regulations. Bulk mail revenue was down by 39% in the month.

“The SA Post Office experienced a dramatic reduction in revenue during the lockdown period and is now looking at ways to improve cash flows,” the Post Office said.

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