Parliament cannot avoid dealing with impending chaos at SAPO
25 March 2015
The DA is concerned that the South African Post Office (SAPO) does not feature in the committee programme schedule along with other state-owned companies to present their strategic business plans for the year ahead. This while SAPO is under administration, strike action is looming and a loss of R1.6 billion is projected for the financial year.
I have therefore written to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Telecommunications and Postal Services, Mmamoloko Kubayi, requesting that at the earliest opportunity that the South African Post Office (SAPO) Administrator, Dr Simo Lushaba, and the acting CEO, Mlu Mathonsi, appear before the Committee and table the long-awaited turnaround plan for the entity.
This must include a full report on labour relations and human resource issues that continue to bedevil the SAPO; a full disclosure of the entity's cash position; as well as a workable proposal on how the SAPO will be funded in the 2015/2016 financial year.
A clear timeline must also be presented that outlines a plan for the early appointment of a competent and experienced Board to oversee the entity's operations and mark a return to the requirements of the Companies Act and the King 3 Code of Corporate Governance.
A recent letter confirms that middle-management employees will only be paid on the 31st of the month instead of the usual 25th. It is also understood that the Administrator and consultants employed will be paid on the 25th. This is the latest indication that not all is on track at the post office.
Additionally, suppliers of essential cleaning services have also reportedly not been paid and have therefore withdrawn their services, with SAPO staff used instead to clean toilets and buildings.
In the last committee meeting with the SA Post Office on 24 February 2015, it was indicated that the turnaround plan was being finalised and would be ready by 15 March 2015. There is still no evidence of this plan.
The second term programme for the Portfolio Committee indicates the first time the SAPO will appear will only be on 2 June, more than months after the turnaround plan deadline.
The Committee simply cannot put off engaging the post office's turnaround strategy any longer.
Since being placed under administration in November 2014 for an initial four months - later extended by three months - Members of Parliament have been kept in the dark as to what plans are being implemented and what progress is being made. This goes against the principle of accountability and the Constitutional responsibility of MPs to exercise oversight over state-owned entities.
The Minister and the SA Post Office cannot use the placement of the organisation under administration to avoid accounting to Parliament on how it is being managed.
With the 2015/2016 budget cycle in process, the public purse cannot be expected to provide billions of Rands in funding without the SAPO being called to account for how this money is being spent.
Statement issued by Cameron MacKenzie MP, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, March 25 2015
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