Can South Africa afford to lose its Post Office?

Key topics:South Africa needs a capable developmental state for growth.SAPO can drive digital inclusion, e-commerce and access.Modernisation is vital to prevent inequality and collapse..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Dr Kameshnee Naidoo*.The National Planning Commission, established in 2010 as South Africa’s statutory body for long-term national development planning, stated: “In a society with deep social and economic divisions, neither social nor economic transformation is possible without a capable and developmental state.”Successful developmental states such as Japan, Singapore and South Korea demonstrate how a clear development mandate, supported by enabling institutional architecture, long-term vision, policy continuity and the capacity to implement across government, can drive economic success.What would a developmental institutional culture look like in South Africa? And what would it take to bring a profoundly divided population, shaped by years of deliberate public policy, into full and meaningful participation in the economy?Post offices were historically designed around universal service obligations (“USO”), regulatory requirements that ensure access to essential services. The recent South African Post Office SOC Ltd Amendment Act, 2024 aligns with the National Planning Commission’s vision, redefining SAPO’s role from a traditional postal service to a cornerstone of South Africa’s socio-economic infrastructure, positioning it as a key enabler of digital inclusion, e-commerce and integrated government service delivery. Despite this, the institution’s unique potential has frequently been overlooked in public debate..Read more:.Ex-CEO demands probe into vanished billions at Post Office.SAPO remains a critical pillar of financial inclusion, with the ability to provide low-income earners with access to financial services and lower barriers to entry for those historically excluded. With its 657 branches and access to over 130,000 km of fibre network, the Post Office can connect underserved communities, offer internet access, and serve as a public touchpoint for government services. As custodian of the national address database, it also supports e-commerce growth and connectivity for rural households.Yet the institution is hampered by outdated systems, insufficient capital and operational inefficiencies. Mail processing, logistics and IT infrastructure urgently need upgrading, as outlined in the Business Rescue Plan. The current status of the entity prevents SAPO from fulfilling its mandate and leveraging its vast network to drive inclusion and economic integration. Without digitisation, modernisation and investment, these capabilities remain untapped, and critical services risk collapse.Privatising, hollowing out or shutting down the Post Office would deepen inequality, raise costs for remote communities and reduce the state’s presence where it is often the only point of contact.It still astounds me that so little informed and considered thought has been given to the potential of the South African Post Office in meeting our developmental agenda and implementing the recent South African Post Office SOC Ltd Amendment Act, 2024.It is further deeply concerning that an institution caught between a rapidly changing industry and a lack of focus and clarity in the governance of state-owned enterprises is now in crisis — meaning that SAPO is a victim, and the South African public, especially the economically disenfranchised, bears the brunt of poor implementation and execution.The Post Office has been built up over 230 years, making it a unique national asset with the sum of its parts rendering it irreplaceable and non-replicable. We stand at a critical juncture. We risk losing a key piece of national infrastructure and, with it, a real chance to include more citizens in the digital economy and position the country for inclusive growth..Read more:.The numbers that show why the Post Office is dead and must be shut down.The widespread amplification of uninformed commentary, alongside the deliberate dismissal of this entity’s potential value across the political spectrum and in public discourse, is profoundly irresponsible..*Dr Naidoo is visiting adjunct professor at the Southern Centre for inequality at Wits University. She was global programme advisor at the United Nations capital development fund. She provided input to the SAPO business rescue team on social infrastructure, for policy execution.

Can South Africa afford to lose its Post Office?

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