Post offices nationwide are facing significant challenges, leading to disrepair.
GroundUp contacted significant political parties to understand their proposed solutions to address this issue.
What major political parties say about the Post Office
The major political parties were questioned about their strategies for handling the South African Post Office.
They reached out to the ANC, DA, EFF, IFP, FF Plus, ActionSA, PA, MK Party, and RISE Mzansi, posing follow-up questions to those who had not initially responded.
However, there are still some parties that need to answer.
According to GroundUp,the ANC and MK Party did not respond to their question.
The DA responded and stated that the South African Post Office (SAPO) has the potential to fulfil a crucial role within communities, particularly in rural and underserved areas across the country.
However, these opportunities have primarily remained untapped in the past.
To begin with, SAPO needs to address its parcel and mail delivery issues before expanding its range of services.
The DA proposes several measures to ensure the future success of the South African Post Office (SAPO):
- Implement new leadership and management strategies to revitalize SAPO, including exploring potential partnerships with private entities to enhance service quality and financial stability.
- Forge private-public partnerships with established delivery services to improve local parcel delivery.
- Repurpose SAPO for the digital age by expanding its services to include online transactions, community services, and internet access to bridge the digital divide.
- Investigate subsidizing SAPO services in rural and impoverished areas and leasing its infrastructure to the private sector to maximize unused or underutilized resources.
- Explore the development of an on-demand app for short-distance parcel delivery to generate additional revenue for SAPO.
The EFF acknowledges SAPO’s crucial role in providing postal and financial services nationwide but criticises the ANC for neglect and mismanagement, potentially leading to privatisation.
To rejuvenate SAPO, the EFF proposes eliminating debts, modernising infrastructure, and promoting digitisation.
They also aim to empower the Postbank to offer affordable financial services, particularly in marginalised communities. Additionally, the EFF plans to mandate government departments to use SAPO for email hosting to improve efficiency and utilisation of services.
The IFP replied with a yes and a no. Indeed, the Post Office maintains a significant presence throughout the country, often serving as the nearest government agency in rural and remote regions and facilitating the delivery of government services.
However, we advocate for a private-public partnership to revitalise the post office rather than solely relying on it for service delivery.
The FF Plus stated that a postal service is still necessary for economic activity. SAPO is however bankrupt beyond the point of saving and should rather be privatised.
ActionSA recognises the need for the implementation of urgent reforms to improve the efficiency and functioning of the Post Office.
The state should seek private sector partners to bid on both minority and majority ownership models for the entity.
A clear definition of the ongoing public mandate is essential in this process. The selection of the most compelling offer should be based on various factors, including the bidder’s vision, business plan, track record, and financial proposal.
Following the selection, the entity’s board and management, comprising directors and managers appointed on merit by the shareholders, should be empowered to oversee its operations.
Proposed measures to secure R4 Billion bailout for Post Office underway
Efforts are underway to secure the crucial R3.8 billion needed for the South African Post Office’s (Sapo) recovery, either through a special arrangement from the government’s budget or partnerships in logistics, e-commerce, property sales, or investments in information technology systems.
According to IOL, During a session with Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications and digital technologies, Deputy Minister Philly Mapulane and Director-General Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani assured that the government is making every effort to secure the necessary funding for the business rescue process of the South African Post Office (Sapo).
This funding, totalling R3.8 billion, is in addition to the R2.4 billion allocated last year.
DA MP Natasha Mazzone raised direct questions regarding the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies’ continued meetings with Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana for additional funding despite the government’s stance against further bailouts for Sapo.
In response, Jordan-Dyani stated that the department has organised a follow-up meeting to present funding proposals.
According to BusinessTech ,SAPO’s liabilities far outweigh its assets, prompting the closure of an additional 80 post offices across the country this year. This brings the total closures to nearly 400 since 2020.
SAPO was placed under business rescue following a court order on 10 July 10, which overturned the provisional liquidation order previously imposed on it.
SAPO’s Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs), Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons disclosed that SAPO’s liabilities had soared to R12.5 billion. With assets amounting to only R4.5 billion, the Post Office is technically insolvent, facing negative equity of R7.9 billion.
This dire financial situation signifies that it desperately needs substantial assistance to remain operational.
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