Here Is A Radical Idea: Let Go Of The Post Office

Having been in business rescue since July 2023, and now on the verge of collapse, the decision to let go of the Post Office represents an opportunity for Democratic Alliance MP and communications minister Solly Malatsi to show that his party's leadership of the portfolio will result in different actions and outcomes from those of his ANC predecessors.

Unfortunately, it looks like South Africans are in for more of the same old bromide, albeit from a different dispensary. The communications portfolio is not in any better shape than it was one, three or five years ago.

For one thing, the SABC is still in crisis: funding for the public broadcaster remains an unresolved issue, while the SABC Bill, withdrawn from parliament by Malatsi last November, remains the subject of a fierce political battle between the minister and his ANC counterparts in government - lots of politicking is happening in the background, yet no solutions have come to the fore.

The legal battle between the SABC and Sentech over signal distribution fees is still at a stalemate while the future of Sentech in an era of digital broadcasting remains uncertain.

Finally, the bankrupt Post Office is still a strain on the fiscus. Earlier this month, national treasury approved a "virement" of R150-million intended to "assist in addressing immediate financial pressures" at the company.