SA Post Office too broke to pay suppliers

27 February 2022

The South African Post Office is too broke to pay its suppliers making it one of the worst violators of the government commitment to settle invoices within 30 days.

While President Cyril Ramaphosa consistently waxes lyrical about his administration’s commitment to ensure the payment of invoices within 30 days, the Post Office, like many other State entities, continues to shamelessly defy this without any consequences.

In a recent reply to a parliamentary question by the DA, it has emerged that the Post Office currently owes its suppliers a total of R485 million emanating from 196 unpaid invoices.

This figure includes 116 invoices worth R119 million which haven’t been paid within the required 30 days period and a further 63 invoices amounting to R270 million over 120 days.

What is more concerning is that there is foreseeable hope that the Post Office will be in a position to pay the supplies it owes soon as Ministry of Telecommunications has confessed in the same parliamentary reply that “…the Post Office does not have the required funds to settle its liabilities.”

The devastation the Post Office causes to businesses, many of which are small medium and micro enterprises, with its failure to pay suppliers is destroying the livelihoods of many South Africans. To this end, the DA will continue to utilise all the Parliament accountability mechanisms to push for the payment of government suppliers on time. We encourage all businesses with unpaid invoices to visit the DA’s portal to get assistance from our Shadow Minister on Small Businesses, Henro Kruger.

It defies logic why the ANC government persists with financially unsustainable state owned enterprises such as the Post Office which are chronically dependent on state bailouts instead of making space for private sector investment.

Issued by Solly Malatsi, DA Shadow Minister of Communications, 27 February 2022