The South African Post Office (SAPO) will include e-business in its turnaround strategy in a move to cut costs and discontinue traditional mail, which reportedly accounts for 71 per cent of its revenue.
The migration to a digital strategy includes hybrid email, mobile platforms and internet and self-service kiosks.
The hybrid mail means a computer-sent email will be delivered as a traditional letter.
The Post Office experienced a ZAR179 million (US$18.3 million) loss and Chris Hlekane, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Post Office, placed the blame on the recent strikes, which reportedly cost ZAR100 million (US$10.2 million), as well as the loss of the social grants payout contract and declining government subsidies.
The largest portion of the Post Office’s expenses were attributed to salaries.
“We are working tirelessly with organised labour to devise a long-term solution to even out our seemingly unstable labour environment, which hampers productivity,” said Hlekane.
“We have abolished the use of labour brokers within the group and are converting our temporary workers into permanent part-time ones, in line with our operational model and affordability.”
According to a report by Times Live, Hlekane made these claims during the Post Office group’s results presentation earlier this week.
The SAPO board approved the turnaround strategy following the possibility of no state subsidies as from next year.
