The intensive transformation process undertaken by the South African Post Office over the past three years is starting to reap rewards for the parastatal.
Regarded by many at one stage as the Cinderella of the state-owned enterprises, the post office has for the first time in its 200-year history posted a profit.
On Monday, the utility reported that it recorded a R27-million profit from trading operations for the year ended March 2004 — this after reporting a R170-million loss last year.
“The post office has embraced the challenges of transformation and the result is that we are making impressive progress. We are in a good position to use advanced technology to enhance our service and to introduce innovative new products that serve our community.
“Our proactive approach to employee health and labour issues is already paying off, and we have faith in the process for the future,” says group CEO Maanda Manyatshe.
“The major milestone in this transformation journey is the achievement of a profit at operational level in the year under review. This historic achievement has been brought about largely by change interventions that focused on the ability, training and appropriate attitude required to serve customers in an exceptional manner, guiding and leading the communication and behaviour of staff and empowering them to make decisions that serve all stakeholders positively.
“Continuous technological and process-related improvements have helped to position service and product offerings competitively,” he explains.
“Tremendous inroads have been made in the implementation of the enabling projects that bring about what we describe as our change wave.”
The post office has identified important focus points for the future, including:
- The consolidation of its delivery functions into parcel, mail, retail and financial services divisions to enhance service delivery and meeting and exceeding customer expectations;
- The re-engineering of its processes and policies for additional productivity, efficiency and competitiveness;
- The corporatisation of Postbank;
- Brand equity enhancement for both the group and its subsidiaries;
- The enhancement of the post office’s role in the electronic communications space;
- The enhancement of culture change (becoming more people-oriented and customer-centric); and
- The enhancement of performance measurement management and reward systems.
Manyatshe said that — having been tasked with providing a universal, affordable postal service to all, irrespective of race, colour, gender or geographic location — the post office is committed to aligning closely its retail outlets in order to achieve these objectives in the 2004 financial year.
The company intends to focus on the universal service obligation. Its roll-out priorities will be in line with the 13 nodal points the government has identified for the service. The outlets will also be aligned with the roll-out of multipurpose community centres.
It is envisaged that by March 2008, 344 new outlets will have been established, bringing the total number of retail outlets to 2 940. At the end of the five-year period, it is planned to have one outlet for every 17 401 people.
Furthermore, the group contributes to the rural communities’ development and education by participating in the development of citizens’ post offices and the setting up of public internet terminals, thereby serving as an interface between the government and the community.
The key objective behind these ventures is to provide universal and affordable access to a digital service, particularly to rural and disadvantaged communities, through the company’s existing retail network. This will ensure that people in rural areas and small towns are not excluded from the information age and its potential benefits, said Manyatshe. — I-Net Bridge