The South African Post Office (SAPO), which is under business rescue, has resumed its international mail service after a payment agreement.

The Business Rescue Practitioners, Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons, who were appointed to reform the Post Office to its former glory, have confirmed international mail service to the United States, Japan, and Europe has resumed. 

“A payment agreement for payment of arrears as well as an ongoing payment plan with one partner airline, who handles our Europe, Japan, and US destinations, has been agreed."

In a bid to tackle the mounting backlog of international mail and parcels, the commencement of the international mail services will focus on those first.  This will be done through outgoing international Airmail services including Expedited Mail Service, Airmail Parcels, and Airmail Registers, which can be tracked via the SAPO website.

The Post Office at Lady Grey in the Eastern Cape. Photo: Corné Greyvenstein

Rooplal in a statement noted: “The postal service offers the most affordable way of moving parcels between countries and we trust that this news is well received by our international mailing clients”. Rooplal and Damons continue to negotiate with other airlines to include other international destinations.

SAPO entered into business rescue after it was identified as financially distressed and unable to honour many of its financial obligations.

Rooplal and Damons were appointed on 10 July 2023, to stir the ship and rescue the business.  Some of SAPO’s financial obligations include many aspects of shortages and keeping machinery operational.

The DA in the Free State has previously raised concerns over the state of the Welkom-based Post Office. Councillor René Steyn said an oversight visit conducted by Members of Parliament for Matjhabeng, George Michalakis, and DA Councillors had revealed a series of alarming obstacles that are hindering the Post Office from fulfilling its pivotal community role: 

• The disc machine, a key component for crucial operations, has been out of order for the past two months. Moreover, the closure of the Traffic Department, which supplies essential "face-value" forms for license renewals, has further exacerbated the situation.
• Printer toner shortages have forced staff to cover printing expenses personally, while the public is urged to handle their copies. A previous service agreement with Nashua, aimed at mitigating this problem, was terminated due to non-payment.
• Only two out of the 13 web post machines at the counters are functional, leading to manual and time-consuming transaction recording.

OFM News/Tshehla Koteli