By Staff Reporter
President Cyril Ramaphosa has assented to the South African Post Office SOC Ltd Amendment Bill, which expands the mandate of the SA Post Office and repurposes its infrastructure to provide diversified and expanded services.
The new law expands the objects and mandate of the Post Office, enabling its relevance and sustainability by including services that respond to the needs of the users and customers.
“The expansion will ensure that the Post Office is not only empowered by the legislation to provide basic postal services, but is empowered to provide other value-added services to expand on its revenue generating streams,” Ramphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said in a statement.
“The new law enables the Post Office to serve as a hub for government services and other agency services, and as a digital hub for businesses and communities.”
He said the state-owned company would also be able to serve as a logistics partner to other e-commerce providers, including small enterprises and informal traders, and any future business that it may develop to serve users and consumers.
The law aims to encourage government institutions, departments and municipalities to use the Post Office’s infrastructure in the delivery of their services and set aside certain services to be provided by the SOE.
This would help eliminate its over-reliance on government funding and ensure efficient utilisation of post offices, Magwenya said.
Earlier this year, the Treasury rejected a request for a R3.8 billion bailout from the Post Office.
The legislation also addresses governance matters such as the size of the South African Post Office board, and the functions for the board to deal with creditors and skills requirements for board membership.
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