A formal postal service was later established in Cape Town in 1792, expanding across the country through horseback delivery routes, rail networks, and eventually airmail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the 19th century, it had introduced the iconic Cape Triangular stamp, and in 1905, it famously transported the Cullinan diamond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following its split from Telkom in 1991, SAPO rejoined the Universal Postal Union in 1994. However, today, the organisation is at risk of being shut down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Business rescue practitioners have warned that liquidation would trigger severe consequences, including the loss of more than 5,600 jobs and the forced sale of assets at reduced values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Creditors would recover only a fraction of what they are owed\u2014around four cents in the rand\u2014while critical services could collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The practitioners cautioned that there may be a possible crisis around the distribution of social grants to certain beneficiaries, while rural and underserved communities will be left in limbo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking in a recent interview<\/a>, Business Rescue Practitioner Anoosh Rooplal, said the current crisis stems directly from a failure to fully implement the approved rescue plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The plan, adopted in December 2023, was designed to stabilise SAPO through a combination of restructuring and government funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAn integral part of the business rescue plan was the provision of funding of R2.4 billion and R3.8 billion that was specifically included in the business rescue plan,\u201d Rooplal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the initial R2.4 billion tranche was paid, the remaining R3.8 billion has not been received. \u201cUp to now [it] has not been received,\u201d he noted, despite it being binding on all affected parties, including the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This funding shortfall has left SAPO struggling to survive. \u201cTime has elapsed\u2026 two years later, and the post office can only survive with the limited funds it has,\u201d Rooplal said\u2265<\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that the missing funds were essential for daily operations, working capital, and infrastructure upgrades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The situation worsened after confirmation from the government in late 2025 that no further funding would be forthcoming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnfortunately\u2026 we have still not received the funding,\u201d he said, and added that multiple engagements and submissions across several budget cycles had failed to secure the necessary support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result, liquidation is now a real possibility. \u201cWhen there\u2019s no further funding to meet day-to-day claims, we\u2019ve got to consider a liquidation position,\u201d Rooplal warned, although he emphasised that no court application has yet been filed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the dire outlook, Rooplal stressed that SAPO remains strategically important. \u201cIt\u2019s a very important strategic state-owned asset in our view, and it is dependent on the government for funding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He argued that the public may be underestimating its potential, and further stressed that its future lies beyond traditional mail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He added that global postal operators have successfully adapted by diversifying into financial and digital offerings, something SAPO was slow to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe post office was unfortunately too slow to do that, hence its troubles,\u201d he said, pointing to years of underinvestment and missed warning signs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While a turnaround plan exists, Rooplal made it clear that without the funding needed to implement it, the future of South Africa\u2019s oldest institution is drawing to a close.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Founded in 1792, South Africa\u2019s oldest institution is now at serious risk of liquidation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":854528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[18334,853],"class_list":["post-854520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-south-afrian-post-office-sapo","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854520"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":854540,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854520\/revisions\/854540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Money and modernisation are the answer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Post-Office-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n