Funding
The South African Post Office has, for a number of years, been suffering increasing financial losses due to mismanagement, corruption, and competition from the private sector. On 12 April 2023 it was provisionally liquidated, putting the jobs of 16,400+ employees at risk and creating problems for its clients, especially in the rural areas.
However, the company appointed business rescue practitioners, setting the process aside. The business rescue practitioners assumed the responsibility of the Post Office’s Board of Directors, as well as the Accounting Authority. The business rescue plan was adopted by the group’s creditors in December 2023, with the turnaround strategy seeking to close several branches and reduce SAPO's workforce. SAPO subsequently retrenched over 4,300 employees during April and May 2024. Furthermore, 366 Post Office branches permanently closed, leaving the total number of branches remaining at 650.[3]
SAPO received a R2.4 billion bailout from the government budget in 2023/24 financial year. For its 2024 financial year, the Post Office recorded an operating loss of R2.17 billion.[3]
In May 2025, the South African Minister of Employment and Labour formally implemented a R381 million bailout for SAPO. The signed agreement between SAPO and the country's Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) aims to preserve 6,000 jobs and support the revitalization of the Post Office. This is the first strategic partnership between the two entities.[3]
The UIF will use the Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) to inject over R381 million into SAPO over a 6-month period. The Department of Labour stated that SAPO will submit regular reports, maintain transparent accounting records, and implement a detailed turnaround strategy as a condition of the funding.[3]
SAPO's business rescue practitioners stated in a presentation to the Portfolio Committee that R3.8 billion in funding was still needed to implement its business rescue plan. The Post Office's corporate plan through to 2030 is positive, and shows that the group anticipates a continued reduction of losses over the next 5 years, with a turn to profit expected in 2028.[3]
In late May 2025, SAPO's business rescue practitioners told Members of Parliament that they had successfully turned around SAPO's results, and were preparing to exit their undertaking to do so. This is despite coming under criticism from Committee members in Parliament for not updating them, and not making significant progress in turning SAPO around. The practitioners claimed that SAPO was in its best shape since 2012, and that they were preparing a court application to begin a process of terminating the business rescue proceedings.[9]
