The South African Post Office has been a zombie company for many months. Staff have routinely had to work without power, without paper to print car licences, and without proper security. It’s an indictment on the management of that state entity, and those who oversaw it.
But it clearly hasn’t been run as a going concern for ages. Since 2022, documents filed last week show, its costs have amounted to 200% of what it collected in revenue. That’s no way to run a business, especially one with a monopoly.
The Post Office is looking for a R3.8bn bailout to put itself on a firmer footing, as part of its new business rescue plan. One can’t help feel it’s throwing yet more good money after bad.
Cutting branches and halving the staff complement is only half of the story; revenue growth is the other. That requires a plan that isn’t hog-tied from the get-go by failing infrastructure and the legacy issues that dog the parastatal .
The National Treasury needs to think hard before lobbing another bailout in its direction. If the practices that led to its financial delinquency aren’t addressed, and if the people who led it to ruin remain in their posts, there’s no reason it won’t be back, cap in hand, asking for more money next year.
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