The Final Tally: The Overwhelming Numbers Behind the Call to Shut Down the Post Office

The debate over the fate of the South African Post Office (SAPO) is over. It’s no longer a question of if it should be closed, but when. A cold, hard look at the numbers reveals an institution that is not just struggling, but is financially and operationally deceased, being kept on artificial life support by taxpayer funds.

The figures tell a story of catastrophic failure. The entity is drowning under billions of rands in debt, a burden it has no conceivable way of repaying. Its operational model has collapsed, with mail volumes plummeting and its infrastructure crumbling into irrelevance.

A Financial Black Hole

The most damning number is the debt, which runs into the billions. This isn’t debt that can be managed or restructured; it is a sunk cost. The Post Office is insolvent, meaning its liabilities far exceed its assets. Every rand sent to keep it on life support is a rand that cannot be spent on healthcare, education, or other critical services.

The entity consistently fails to generate enough revenue to cover its basic operational costs, let alone service its debt. It is a perfect example of a zombie state-owned enterprisetechnically still walking, but long since dead as a functioning business.

The Irrelevance of its Core Service

The world has moved on. The digital revolution has decimated the need for physical mail. Bills are paid online, communication happens via email and instant messaging, and parcels are delivered by agile, efficient private companies.

The Post Office’s core businessletter mailis a relic. The numbers show a near-vertical drop in mail volume over the past decade. Trying to save the Post Office is like trying to save the horse-and-cart industry after the invention of the car. The market has spoken, and it has rendered a verdict of obsolescence.

The Human Cost of Prolonging the Inevitable

Prolonging this agony has a real human cost. It traps employees in a dying institution with no future, preventing them from moving on to new opportunities. It also wastes billions in public money that could be used for social grants, job creation initiatives, or simply left in the pockets of overtaxed citizens.

The most compassionate and fiscally responsible decision is to administer the last rites. Shut it down, settle what debts can be settled, and redeploy its remaining assets. The numbers don’t lie. The South African Post Office is dead. It’s time we had the courage to bury it.

{Source: MyBroadband}

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