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Post Office turnaround to be completed ‘this month’

Johannesburg - A turnaround process at the beleaguered South African Post Office (Sapo) is expected to be completed by the end of this month as postal services return to normal.

This is according to the Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Siyabonga Cwele in an interview with 702 talk show radio host John Robbie on Tuesday morning.

Earlier this year, Beeld reported that Sapo expects to report a loss of R1.3bn by the end of its financial year in March.

Fruitless and wasteful expenditure are among key reasons for its poor financial performance.

Sapo has also asked for a government bailout of R2.3bn while President Jacob Zuma last year assigned his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa with overseeing a turnaround at struggling state owned companies such as Sapo.

Cwele told 702 that "there are deep challenges and systemic challenges in the Post Office", hence the need for a "comprehensive turnaround".

He added that there are "no quick fix solutions" for the Post Office.

"It is in this respect that the administrators have been given a chance to complete this turnaround so that we can do proper consultations, so that we can have sustainable solutions at the Post Office," Cwele said.

“We are expecting the turnaround to be completed by end of this month.

“We want the turnaround to be consulted with the workers so that they can have a buy-in, so that when we bring it to cabinet and the people of South Africa, we have a confidence that that will sustain the Post Office,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sapo is still reeling from last year’s three month strike that resulted in post piling up across South Africa.

Around 7 900 Sapo casual workers across the country demanded an 8% wage hike and permanent employment. The strike ended in November last year when two unions agreed to a settlement with Sapo.

Sapo's board also resigned last year amid the strikes.

However, Cwele also said that postal services are returning to normal.

"As you know, we've still got a backlog of the mail. I'm happy that I've been informed that the backlog now is very limited to the East Rand,” said Cwele.

"Most of the backlog has been cleared,” he added.

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