Funding shortfall jeopardises SA Post Office's business rescue plan

NO FURTHER progress can be made in implementing the Business Rescue Plan without additional funding from the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), Messrs. Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons, the business rescue practitioner (BRPs) of the SA Post Office (Sapo) said on Monday in an update.

- PHILIPPA LARKIN

Because of this, the BRPs are consulting with their legal advisors regarding the company's potential exit from business rescue and the subsequent return of the company to its shareholder, the DCDT, along with a new appointed board.

Sapo was placed under business rescue on July 10, 2023 to avoid liquidation. They said in an affidavit that they would award funding to the process, which would encompass funding of a first tranche of R2.4 billion (which was received and used for retrenchments packages) and then a second tranche of R3.8bn, which was going to be used for the infrastructure upgrade and digitilisation process.

The BRPS were expecting to to get funding in March 2024 but nothing has materialised to finalise the plan and no funding was allocated to the Sapo per the medium-term budget speech.