Sources close to the South African Post Office Business Rescue Practitioners (BRPs), Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons, have revealed that efforts were being made to verify reports that the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) has asked National Treasury to reallocate unused funds from the SA Connect programme to the South African Post Office (SAPO).

This initiative seeks to aid the beleaguered postal service as it grapples with the threat of shutdown within weeks.

This is at the height of strong debate between Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies, and the Communications Workers Union (CWU) over the effectiveness of the business rescue process of the SAPO, which the latter has warned could shut down in the next two weeks.

According to Kwena Moloto, spokesperson for Communications Minister Solly Malatsi, the DCDT is indeed earmarking the shelved funds that were originally allocated to the State IT Agency for the SA Connect initiative.

This programme, designed to implement a national broadband policy ratified under former President Jacob Zuma’s government in 2013, has not been activated, creating a unique opportunity amidst the crisis.

“The reality is that the DCDT’s budget simply cannot sustain repeated bailouts, to secure the Post Office’s future, the focus is on finding practical, long-term solutions that modernise its operations and make it more competitive,” Moloto was quoted by online publications.

The CWU Wednesday said positive results between June 2023 and June 2024 showed the SAPO had turned its asset value from a negative R7.9 billion to R840 million, which brought it into solvency.

“Positive results in operations was the reduction of backlogs in mail centers and the completion of the data centre migration. These are some of the positive results under the business rescue, yet Treasury has refused the additional funding of R3.8 billion needed to complete the Business Rescue process,” it said.

“The BRPs have managed to reduce the debt of the South African Post Office from R7.9bn Net Asset Value in the negative to a positive. If the remaining 18c as per the Internal Use Business Rescue Plan can be paid to creditors, then SAPO will not have historical debt, however, the 18c has to come from the R3.8bn.”

In response to the CWU, portfolio committee chairperson Khusela Diko said they had a problem with the secrecy in which the plans by the BRPs on how they plan to future-proof the SAPO were seemingly shrouded.

Diko said she was wondering what was being hidden and how should members of the public trust that the SAPO will not once again seek another bailout in the next few months.

“The portfolio committee goes at length to explain that there is no viable plan and therefore, there can be no money given,” Diko told Business Report on Wednesday.

“We had been informed that in successive discussions with the Treasury, the BRPs were reminded of their mandate which according to the BRPs was focused on the rescue, sustain and future-proof the SAPO.”

Diko last week has said the committee was seeking audience with Malatsi in a bid to terminate the process as no tangible future proof plan had been tabled.

On Wednesday, Diko reiterated this, saying the committee held the view that the BRPs have failed to deliver on the future proofing objective, which is to set out a clear roadmap to future proof the SAPO.

“This is the plan we have and continue to ask for: what is the turnaround strategy of the sustainability plan of the SAPO once R3.8bn has been received?” she asked.

“There is no expectation from the committee for the BRPs to implement that sustainability plan. That should be the responsibility of a properly constituted governance structure to give comfort to the Treasury and taxpayers on the path towards sustainability of the SAPO, this plan must be produced.”

BUSINESS REPORT