Business rescue practitioners tell MPs they've turned SAPO around
The team of rescue practioners is now preparing to exit the business rescue process and hand control of the entity back to management after almost three years.
The South African Post Office. Picture: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp
CAPE TOWN - The South African Post Office's business rescue practitioners say they've managed to turn around the ailing entity.
The team of rescue practitioners is now preparing to exit the business rescue process and hand control of the entity back to management after almost three years.
The rescue team briefed Parliament's communications and digital technologies committee on the finalisation of the rescue process, which saw over 4,000 retrenchments and the closure of hundreds of branches.
The business rescue practitioners have previously come under fire from the committee, which said that progress was not evident over the last two years.
The practitioners were also criticised in April for failing to provide the committee with an update in over four months.
But on Wednesday, Fathima Gany, SAPO acting group CEO, presented a positive outlook, saying that they were in the best shape since 2012.
"This resulted in the strengthening of the balance sheet and a positive net asset value of R1 billion at the end of March. This was the first time since 2012 that SAPO had a positive net asset value, so you see the benefits that you gain from a business rescue process."
In terms of the status of the business rescue exit process, the team said they were in discussions with the department and were preparing a court application to terminate the business rescue proceedings.