Post office critical but stable!

THE Minister of Communications & Digital Technologies, Mondli Gungubele, said the South African Post Office (Sapo) is fully functional and stable.

He said this on Thursday, 4 April, as he gave an update on the department's performance, including the stabilisation of Sapo.

According to Gungubele, systems are running as expected at the post office and that service delivery is adequate, despite recent changes, which saw the retrenchment of over 6 000 employees and the closing down of cash points.

"The public can still expect to receive their letter posts, courier packages, renewal of vehicle licences, withdrawal of social grants, and receipt of their chronic medication through Sapo.

"It's important to note that Sapo remains fully operational and committed to delivering essential services to the people of South Africa," Gungubele said.

Previously, Daily Sun reported how the greenlight to business rescue plan was proposed to retrench up to 6 000 employees of the South African Post Office.

The retrenchment plan was proposed in 2023 as part of a medium-term plan to reduce the number of employees at the post office from over 16 000 in 2020 to 9 000 in 2024.

The business rescue plan was endorsed by creditors, receiving a majority vote following the business rescue practitioners' meeting with creditors.

The rescue plan, structured in two phases, will be rolled out over two to five years.

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The first phase saw Sassa and Postbank announce that, as part of a broader strategy to improve the quality of cash withdrawal services for all social grants recipients, physical cash payment points and cash withdrawal of social grants inside post offices will be phased out from Monday, 1 April.

Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana during the 2023 Budget Speech announced that Sapo has been allocated R2.4 billion to bring stability to the entity.

Gungubele emphasised that saving Sapo and turning it around into an effective, innovative and financially viable entity remains the foremost priority of the government.

"A restructured post office will be agile and cost-effective. Business rescue continues to engage labour representatives to ensure a seamless process on all labour-related issues," he said.