2023-05-30 22:02:29
South Africa Post is unable to pay its creditors, so one of them managed to have it placed in provisional liquidation in February. Since then, the entity claims to have paid this debt. It should therefore see its liquidation lifted on June 1. But it still owes more than 200 million euros to other creditors. The South African government has already indicated that it will not let it collapse.
From our correspondent in Johannesburg,
The public company, like other entities run by the South African state, has been in decline in recent years, as Communications Minister Mondli Gungubele conceded to Parliament:
« Mail volume is declining, and as a result revenues have fallen from R3.4 billion in 2015 to R2.6 billion in 2022. This trend poses a threat to the sustainability of South Africa Post if it continues on its course. original model “, warns the Minister.
Five months of strike, in 2014, had already underlined the malaise which reigned within the entity. And the layoff of 6,000 employees was recently on the table, almost half of the workforce. Employees whose rights are further violated, according to Aubrey Tshabalala, of the Communications Sector Workers Union (CWU): “ Employee benefits are no longer paid “, she explains. ” For example, their health coverage, their retirement fund, or others, such as their life insurance. This puts them in a very, very risky position.. »
The essential role of post offices
The more than 1,200 offices that exist in the country are not only responsible for managing mail, but also play an essential role in the distribution of social aid. They also serve as a collection point for medication for chronic illnesses or for renewing vehicle papers.
An invaluable network, which Mark Barnes, the former CEO, would like to save by buying a part, in a public-private partnership: “ The private sector cannot go it alone, because to make a profit, it will be tempting to spin off branches in small towns. So the state must retain a role “, he analyzes. “ I envision a form of partnership, where we stop relying on this old model, with regular bailouts. Rather, we need to think regarding what we can invest in to better serve the state and South Africans, and consider the entity as something other than a simple post.. »
A recovery plan planned by the South African government
The government prefers to bet on a recovery plan called ” tomorrow’s post office “, as Minister Mondli Gungubele explains: “ The priority intervention points intend to transform the post, among other things, into an e-commerce hub for South Africa and the region, but also a digital hub for communities, and an identification authority, at the era of digital services. »
The state has already injected nearly 120 million euros, last February, to try to save the South African post office from defeat.
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