The Postal Services Amendment Bill has got the nod from the African National Congress-dominated public enterprises and labour select committee of South Africa’s National Council of Provinces — despite an eleventh-hour attempt to halt the legislation in its present form.
Concerns in the courier industry are that the legislation effectively gives the heavily state-subsidised South African Post Office a monopoly on the market of parcels of 1kg and under and places a question mark on thousands of jobs in the private sector.
Amid an outcry from the courier services industry, the select committee opted to hold public hearings on the Bill on Tuesday morning — but this session was declared irregular by the ruling ANC chief whip Mohammed Enver Surty because he pointed out that the legislation had already been passed by the committee last week.
But after the 54-member National Council, which sat most of Tuesday, passed a motion allowing for the committee to reconsider the matter, a resumed session of the committee — which was addressed by Department of Communications Deputy Director General Phumelele Ntombela-Nzimande and a number of courier service representatives — it was decided to stick with the Bill.
The Bill can now be considered by the National Council on Wednesday as scheduled.
Robert Wilson, a lawyer acting for DHL, a large courier service that is understood to have about R1-billion a year in business in the small package market in South Africa, warned that the Bill could be unconstitutional as it could be interpreted as undermining the proprietary rights of industry players.
But South African Express Parcel Association CEO Garry Marshall said he was encouraged by the summation of the debate by committee chairperson Constance Nkuna, of the ANC, who said the process of legislation-making was “ongoing”.
Marshall said she had urged courier industry players “to continue to consult and discuss the matter”.
Ntombela-Nzimande said the intention of the amending legislation — which amends the Postal Services Act of 1998 — was to underscore the universal service obligations of the South African Post Office — providing a postal service for all South Africans. The intention was not to introduce “a draconian measure” but to ensure that the post office only was required to carry out this obligation.
It is proposed in terms of the Bill that courier services should only be licensed to provide unreserved services — in the bigger package market. — I-Net Bridge