Private sector participation in the state-owned SA Post Office has moved a step closer with the issuance of a request for information (RFI) on Thursday by the department of communications & digital technologies.
The aim of the RFI is to gauge private sector interest in strategic partnerships with the Post Office, which is soon to exit the business rescue process it has been under for about two years and which has cost over R250m. Branches were closed and workers retrenched in the process.
Minister of communications & digital technologies Solly Malatsi said in reply to questions in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) that the Post Office could not permanently rely on the state for its survival and “needs to embrace private partnerships which could leverage its strengths, including the size and depth of its infrastructure”.
The government has sunk billions of rand into the Post Office over the years to keep it afloat. “The future is around private partnerships,” Malatsi stressed.
DA MP Nicolaas Pienaar welcomed Malatsi’s announcement, saying it was “most exciting news”. Private sector participation would be key to the success of the Post Office, he added.
The RFI notice on the department’s website notes that the Post Office “has a well-documented history of financial instability but is expected to exit business rescue soon.
“The reason for this instability is, at least in part, that the nature of postal services has changed significantly over time, but the Post Office has been unable to transition from a traditional postal services provider to a hybrid logistics and digital platform provider.”
It said private sector partnerships with the Post Office could include revenue-share agreements, joint ventures, build-operate-transfer arrangements, infrastructure leases or managed service contracts.
The aim was “to ensure effective and efficient service delivery to SA citizens and operational efficiency and a fit-for-purpose and viable entity”.
Also targeted were digital transformation and arrangements that introduced innovation, investment and operational value for the business.
Possible areas of private sector participation — which the RFI notice said could also assist companies in extending their reach and their own services portfolio — included postal and courier services, digital platforms, financial inclusion, government service delivery and infrastructure.
“The responses may pertain to technology solutions, platforms, physical infrastructure, operating models, service delivery enhancements or value-added services,” the RFI notice said.
Partnerships, the notice added, were essential for the modernisation of its core systems and for launching and scaling digital platforms, including financial services; monetising infrastructure; and reducing fixed costs by diversifying operations through managed service and leasing models in areas such as fleet, retail and IT infrastructure.
Interested parties are also invited to demonstrate how private capital and expertise could enhance the range of services provided through, or using, acquiring, or leasing the Post Office’s national branch, logistics and digital infrastructure, including all related resources.
The Post Office is the only designated operator legally permitted and licensed to provide reserved postal services as outlined in the Postal Services Act.
The department will hold a briefing session on the RFI with interested parties on December 10 in Pretoria.
Malatsi said the business rescue practitioners had indicated that the majority of the conditions imposed by the court had been met and they wanted to exit business rescue. The department supported this but wanted to make sure there was no vacuum of leadership. The process of appointing a board was under way.
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