The majority of the board members at the under-fire Postbank have resigned, citing “severe and hostile treatment” from Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Mondli Gungubele.
This comes hot off the heels of a technical glitch that saw thousands of pensioners returning home empty-handed without their social grants last week, with Postbank on Monday saying it was still busy with reversing funds into customers’ accounts.
Many elderly people have been unable to withdraw money from retailers and ATMs since last Tuesday.
On Thursday, five of the eight directors of the Postbank board resigned.
According to a leaked letter posted on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) by Khaya Sithole, addressed to the minister, the resigning members stated that they could not continue to be associated with an institution whose board continued to be undermined and disrespected.
Below is the letter:
Meanwhile at Postbank, we have a walkout.
— Khaya Sithole (@CoruscaKhaya) September 13, 2023
Apparently, the Minister's governance style is apothecarist in nature.#Postbank pic.twitter.com/QYmPTupLiE
“This decision to resign from the organisation for which we have worked so hard to ensure it delivers its mandate was not reached lightly. We understand and accept the implications of this decision,” the letter further read.
Meanwhile, co-ordinator for #PayTheGrants, Elizabeth Raiters, said the “technical glitch” that saw thousands of people being left without their money was not the first incident.
“This happens a lot. It’s an ongoing situation with the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) and it seems they are not bothered.
“We are disgusted with this because these are people’s lives and they really seem not to care.
“Sassa doesn’t have the interest of people at heart. It’s not even like the money is enough for the whole month, it’s another thing when that little amount is even taken away from them. This is cruel. Our social development just doesn’t care and they can’t even hide it,” she said.
Human rights organisation, Black Sash, said payment issues have dragged on since November 2022, when Postbank took over the payment of grants from the SA Post Office (Sapo).
Director Rachel Bukasa said from the start, Postbank’s system was not designed to adequately administer the payment of social grants.
“We worry that there was a failure by the Department of Social Development and Sassa, prior to partnering with Postbank, to do proper due diligence to determine whether Postbank had the capacity, expertise and infrastructure to administer the payment of social grants.”
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