Business rescue practitioners tell Parliament task to save struggling Post Office a success

CAPE TOWN - The South African Post Office (SAPO)’s business rescue practitioners have told Parliament their task to save the struggling entity has been a success.

They told Parliament on Wednesday that the South African Post Office has seen the first positive balance sheet with a net asset value of R1 billion - the first since 2012.

But the turnaround has come at a huge cost, with more than 4,000 employees retrenched and hundreds of branches closed, affecting poor and rural communities.

The Post Office was placed under provisional liquidation in February 2023, and a few months later, Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons were appointed as the joint business rescue practitioners.

They told the communications and digital technologies committee that they’ve reached a point where they can start planning their exit.

Rooplal said the process has yielded a lot of positive results.

"This certainly has been a complex business rescue process; it hasn’t been easy, but nonetheless, much progress has been made since our appointment."

He said the entity has also resolved its debt problem, which amounted to billions.

"Effectively, we’re handing back an entity, a Post Office… that’s virtually debt free."

The rescue team told the committee that the Post Office still needs a cash boost after being denied a R3.8 billion bailout by Treasury in 2024.

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