The SA Post Office says it has paid the debt of the creditor who had it placed into provisional liquidation in February.
This means it can approach the court before or on June 1, its next court date, to remove it from provisional liquidation.
The Post Office said in a statement it was following “the necessary legal steps to have this matter resolved as soon as possible”.
“It is unfortunate that this particular provisional liquidation order relates to a debt that had since been settled.”
The media had been attempting to get comment from the Post Office for more than a week after a letter written by a provisional liquidator to creditors of the Post Office was shared on social media in early April.
Business Day reported on Wednesday that the Post Office was placed in provisional liquidation on February 9, after Bay City Trading 475, to which it owed rent, approached the court for an order. This is often done as a last resort to get payment.
Provisional liquidators were appointed by the North Gauteng High Court on March 23.
Provisional liquidator Anton Shaban said: “To have the provisional liquidation order set aside the Post Office must bring an application to the high court. As per the provisional liquidation order, they have until June 1 to do so. Until such time, the provisional liquidation stands.”
The technically insolvent Post Office owes creditors billions of rand and has been closing down branches. It announced a plan in February to retrench 6,000 staff, but cut this down to less than 2,000.
Spokesperson Suzie Khumalo said on Thursday: “It is not in the interest of any stakeholder including creditors and the country for the Post Office to be liquidated.”
As of March 2022, it owed creditors more than R4bn.
The state-owned enterprise, which has lost money every year since 2013, said the R2.4bn bailout from the National Treasury in February will “enable it to settle some of its historical creditors, while implementing the strategy towards sustainability”.
The statement said: “It remains confident that its turnaround plan, The Post Office Of Tomorrow Strategy, is sound and will indeed achieve its objectives.”
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