FORMER SA Post Office chief executive Mark Barnes said on Friday that in his 2022 State of the Nation Address last week President Cyril Ramaphosa had opened the gates for public and private partnerships wider than they had been, and the message was positive.
Barnes was reacting to Sona hot on the heels of the publication in the media last week of an open letter to Communications Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, which Barnes said he had penned four months ago, containing an offer to buy a part of the embattled mail carrier.
Ramaphosa threw his weight behind the business sector as the job creator for the country, saying the government was reviewing the Business Act, as there were too many complicated regulations in the country that were costly and difficult for businesses to comply with.
“We are, therefore, working to improve the business environment for companies of all sizes through a dedicated capacity in the Presidency to reduce red tape,” Ramaphosa said.
Barnes said he thought that the president was leaning towards the sort of partnership he had in mind as the solution to Sapo’s misery.
In an interview with Business Report, Barnes said he had written the letter to Ntshavheni and others to propose that he lead a consortium to buy the ailing parastatal. He said the consortium would also inject a further capital amount into Sapo.
He said the minister had acknowledged receipt of his proposal, but he hadn’t received a reply yet.
“I seriously believe we have come to a point in our country to engage with each other to find common purpose and solutions,” he said.
“I would put together a consortium, most likely international, the sort of players who would like to relish the opportunity to own the best distribution network in South Africa.
“We feel we must have control, but a minimum of 51 percent. We also want to have a further 10 percent allocated to staff.
He said the control would be to do what they believe would be appropriate to save Sapo and provide a forward strategy.
However, Barnes said he did not want the consortium to be subjected to the Public Finance Management Act, so that they could run the post office like other mail carriers in the world.
“We believe we should incentivise the staff. We have to give the staff an opportunity for them to share when we succeed,” Barnes said.
The country’s post office is in dire straits and in the past has received several bailouts. It continues to face operational difficulties.
Last year, it reportedly owed medical aid scheme provider MEDiPOS R602 million in unpaid member contributions.
Sapo also said it had to cut jobs as part of its turnaround strategy. The mail carrier was declared commercially insolvent by the auditor-general.
Barnes said the post office was in serious trouble and he believed he had solutions.
According to Barnes, he left Sapo two years ago because the government wanted to separate Post Bank from Sapo. He said he didn’t see life after the split. “I couldn’t continue with what I wanted to do,” he said.
Barnes said he wondered how long would it take for the government to execute the public and private partnerships the president had spoken of.
“I wonder if it would be something that would be governed entirely by business principles, but I think he was positive about the partnerships,” he said.
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