File picture: Reuters, Siphiwe Sibeko
“EVERYTHING went blank in front of me.” These were the words of a Barkly West man when he discovered that more than R100,000 was unlawfully withdrawn from his Post Bank savings account between October and December 2022.
The victim, Olehile Sehako, accused the Post Office of dragging its feet in the investigation while the suspect continues to work at the till and handles money.
According to Sehako, he made his last transaction in October 2022 with assistance from the suspect, who is an employee of the Post Office.
He said large amounts of money were later withdrawn from his account.
According to Sehako, upon approaching the Post Office, he learned that the same employee who assisted him during his last transaction was the one who had been logging into his account illegally.
He was told that an internal investigation was under way and proceeded to open a fraud case at the Kimberley police station.
He said he and his wife have been saving that money for about five years in order to build a house for their children.
“Now we are back to square one and broke. Our dreams are shattered and we are all affected emotionally.
“I am employed, while my wife runs a business. That's where part of the money came from. We both found Post Bank as a solution because we wanted to move away from the culture of living hand to mouth.”
He said he was also terrified about the latest news reports of the possible liquidation of the SA Post Office.
“My account is with Post Bank, but the suspect is employed by the Post Office, just like the rest of the staff. He will be allowed to run.”
“If he gets retrenched he will be paid all of his packages and the case will end up nowhere because he will be gone.”
Sehako is further frustrated that the investigating officer who is handling his case “never makes any progress”.
The Post Office spokesperson, Suzie Khumalo, could not comment on the matter because the enquiry was about savings.
By the time of going to print, Post Bank spokesperson Bongani Diakos had still not commented as promised.