The South African Post Office (SAPO) says that it is working on a turnaround plan, after the country’s auditor-general declared that the organisation was ‘commercially insolvent’.<\/p>\n
“We continue to engage SAPO\u2019s creditors to acknowledge our indebtedness and willingness to honour the commitments. Equally, debt collection is a focus area.<\/p>\n
“The minister is in the process of appointing a team of turnaround experts to work with the board and the executive team in the development of a bankable turnaround plan, in line with the requirements of the post-Covid-19 economy.<\/p>\n
“We welcome this process, as it will allow the various teams to ensure the basics are in place – and improve on the matters flagged by the latest audit report.”<\/p>\n
The group added that it plans to expand into the ‘highly lucrative’ e-commerce space, focus on the digitisation of its processes, the courier space, as well as those activities which fall within SAPO\u2019s legal mandate.<\/p>\n
“We are confident that with the sense of urgency that now prevails in the organization, we are in the process of building a South African Postal service organization we can all be proud of.”<\/p>\n
SAPO on Tuesday said that it was operating in a difficult environment, and has seen revenues perform below targets by 8%.<\/p>\n
“The entity received recapitalisation funding of R2.9 billion on 25 January 2019 which was utilised to settle term loans of R1.035 billion and pay outstanding creditors.”<\/p>\n
It said has taken steps to address its cost base by embarking on initiatives of staff reduction, which was achieved through natural attrition and voluntary severance packages.<\/p>\n
Staff numbers at the group have dropped by 1,871 during the year under review, it said.<\/p>\n