A Mitchells Plain mother says she is reaching the end of her rope trying to keep her family fed while she waits for her husband’s pension to be paid out.
Portlands resident Marlene Lawrence says her husband Robert passed away on 7 January due to Covid but the family has still not heard anything regarding his pension earned during his 30-year tenure at the Post Office.
“My husband worked at Goodwood Cape Mail for 30 years and 11 months and during that time he was contributing monthly to a pension through his union, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) but when he passed away they did not say anything about his pension.”
Marlene, who is working, says without her husband’s pension, the family is struggling to make ends meet.
“My eldest son is 27 and is a firefighter so he works but he has to help out around the house and that is a burden to put on him because he needs to be building towards his own life and then my youngest is now in grade 10, so he also needs to look towards his future which means studying further.
“This is such a stressful situation, first my husband died, then my father the next day and now this whole money situation.”
After Robert’s death, Marlene said she filled out the relevant paperwork and visited the Goodwood Post Office where a union representative accepted the documents but since then she has heard nothing back.
“I handed in the forms on January 18 and they said they will get back to me but nothing has happened. The rep I gave the forms to is still sending me his cell number and every time I call the CWU I just get bounced from one person to another who passes the buck.”
When the Daily Voice attempted to call CWU representatives regarding Robert’s pension, they failed to answer specific questions and just stated that the issue is being investigated.