SAPO vows to deliver R1.5bn profit by 2029
JOHANNESBURG - The Post Office is hoping its bold five-year turnaround plan will deliver profits.
It aims to deliver a R1.5-billion profit by 2029.
But massive losses, public distrust, and reliance on bailouts may stamp out those aims.
Parliament's oversight committee says the plan is vague, lacks investor confidence, and continues to lean heavily on taxpayer bailouts.
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Daily Maverick
2 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Inside the RAF's broken books — CEO Letsoalo's court bid fails, deficit stays
Embattled Road Accident Fund CEO Collins Letsoalo's court bid to keep his seat may have failed, but his possible ousting and the pending Scopa inquiry highlights the fundamental problem with the RAF's books that no fuel levy increase can fix. On Thursday, 26 June the Pretoria High Court dismissed suspended Road Accident Fund (RAF) CEO Collins Letsoalo's bid for reinstatement, finding his application to be vexatious. Letsoalo, who was suspended by the board four weeks ago on Monday, 3 June 2025 after allegedly failing to attend a Scopa hearing in breach of a statutory summons, now finds himself on the wrong end of a governance crisis. Judge Nasious Moshoanathe ruled that Letsoalo failed to show any factual or legal right to an urgent interdict. The court's decision was welcomed by the Association for Protection of Road Accident Victims (Aprav). 'This is a watershed moment for the fund's governance,' said Ngoako Mohlaloga, Aprav deputy chairperson. 'The ruling is a crucial affirmation of the board's contractual authority and reinforces the principle that no one is above scrutiny.' The impending Scopa inquiry announced on Tuesday, 24 June, which was scathing in its condemnation of the board and executive, will in part lay bare the problem that has been evident on the RAF's books for ages. What's in a clean audit? The last clean audit that the RAF received from the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) was for the 2018/2019 financial year – which is an indication that financials were transparent and verifiable – but it merely confirmed the size of the hole at the RAF, not that it was in good running order. The total liabilities at the time were a staggering R273-billion, with the state-owned enterprise(SOE) clearly insolvent. By the next financial year, the challenges had only worsened, with total liabilities now at R332-billion for 2019/2020. The fuel levy remained stable while costs and claims continued to rise. But no reform followed. It was during this ailing period that Collins Letsoalo was appointed as acting CEO in April 2020 under then Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula, with the role being made permanent in August 2021. On the books at least, RAF seemed to be turning a corner. A turnaround on the books When Letsoalo took the CEO's seat, the RAF appeared to make one of the most astounding SOE turnarounds to date – liabilities dropped from R332-billion to around R31.5-billion, and a surplus was reported. The AGSA also provided the RAF's audit status as 'disclaimer lifted' – meaning that it accepted the restatement but flagged ongoing risks. On paper, it looked like the RAF was resolving its challenges with an alacrity not seen in any other SOE – but that's the only place the change was: paper. What caused the RAF to reflect such an incredible transformation was a change of key reporting metrics and mechanisms, restating the way it presented its financial position. Instead of recording the full long-tail liability upfront, the liability was spread across the cost over future levy income, which shrank liabilities overnight. This accounting shift produced a paper surplus and temporary breathing room, but the underlying claims backlog stayed firmly in place. In its April 2024 statement, the RAF argued: 'The RAF is fundamentally a social security fund.' The AGSA accepted the technical adjustment but repeatedly warned that the solvency gap was merely deferred, not resolved. Reality puts the books in reverse Once the restatement effect faded, the fund slid straight back into deficit. The AGSA issued another disclaimer, citing persistent gaps in how claims liabilities were accounted for and managed. Internal controls failed to keep pace with real claims growth, and cash flow again fell short of the paper surplus. Letsoalo's contract expires in August 2025 – but after his failed bid at reinstatement, the prospect of a reappointment is now remote. Asked whether the fund will now advertise and fill the CEO post permanently, RAF spokesperson McIntosh Polela was noncommittal, telling Daily Maverick in a written response: 'The board will give direction in this regard.' What this means for you Behind the annual disclaimers sit thousands of South Africans with years-long payout delays. The RAF boasts that claimants now receive 83% of spending compared to 66% in 2018/19 – but without fixing the core funding model, no efficiency will close the gap; Every litre of fuel props up old claims with no capital reserve to break the cycle. Despite record fuel levy revenue in 2023/24, the core mismatch hasn't budged. The fund's own statements show a bigger share of costs now goes directly to claimants – but total payouts still exceed income by billions. Cash reserves cover days, not months. Scopa's full committee inquiry – only the fourth of its kind since 1994 – is now Parliament's last tool to force overdue reform. Judge Moshoanathe's ruling laid the governance crisis bare: the board failed, the CEO's restatement trick failed, and Parliament's oversight has arrived years too late. The only question left is whether Scopa will confront the truth everyone pays for – a complete overhaul of the RAF. DM
Daily Maverick
a day ago
- Daily Maverick
Ties that bind: Inside Mashatile's inner circle behind SA's new lottery operator
A cache of pictures and video shows the cozy ties between Deputy President Paul Mashatile and the inner circle behind the new lottery operator, Sizekhaya Holdings. It also introduces a key new figure linking them: Sbu Shabalala, the disgraced former Adapt IT chief executive. Photographs and footage reveal the close personal relationships behind the company that clinched the multibillion-rand lotto licence and their links to Deputy President Paul Mashatile. They provide insight into the powerful people who orbit the Deputy President, with a new name surfacing: former Adapt IT CEO Sbu Shabalala. Following amaBhungane's reporting, members of Parliament put the heat on Minister of Trade and Industry, Parks Tau, asking him to account for possible conflicts of interest in the licence bidding process and award. AmaBhungane understands that Sbu Shabalala is engaged to Khumo Bogatsu, Mashatile's sister-in-law, and is also the cousin of Moses Tembe, the Durban businessman who leads Sizekhaya. Earlier this week amaBhungane revealed that Bogatsu is the twin sister of second lady Humile Mashatile and co-owns Bellamont Gaming with Tembe. Bellamont Gaming is a shareholder in Sizekhaya Holdings, which has received the nod from Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau to take over the national lottery licence, valid for eight years and generating about R7-billion annually. Shabalala is believed to be a key person helping knit together the politically connected group, which includes Sandile Zungu, a prominent member of Sizekhaya who reportedly co-leads the consortium with Tembe. Shabalala's presence is also controversial because of his spectacular fall from grace and departure from Adapt IT in 2021 following a violent incident at his estranged wife's home. He did not respond to questions. Power video The group's proximity to power is most strikingly demonstrated in a video circulated online around March 2025 – three months before the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) announced Sizekhaya as the winning bidder. The video captures the group, minus Zungu, at what appears to be a holiday gathering at an upscale resort. The scene is relaxed and familiar: Tembe in a crisp white shirt, his wife in jeans and a white shirt, Shabalala in a black shirt and shorts, Bogatsu in a sun hat and white blouse, Mrs Mashatile sipping a bottle of water and the Deputy President dancing. Deputy President Paul Mashatile taking a break from his demanding duties to spend quality time with family and friends. — MDN NEWS (@MDNnewss) March 15, 2025 Other photos, which we'll detail, place members of the group – including Zungu, Mashatile and their spouses – in each other's company at various personal and private events. The visuals are significant, not because powerful people have friends, but because these friendships sit at the nexus of a major public tender worth billions, raising questions about proximity, access and influence. In this regard, State Capture amply demonstrated the potential sway of informal networks over formal decision-making. The visuals add to concerns about the potential for political interference in the award of the hotly contested lottery licence, despite both Tau and Mashatile emphasising this week that the Deputy President played no role whatsoever in the lottery decision. In a response to amaBhungane, Sizekhaya said that 'the questions put forward to Advocate Bogatsu, Mr Tembe and Mr Zungu are irrelevant to the award and operation of the fourth national lottery licence and, as such, Sizekhaya is unable to respond to them. 'Sizekhaya reiterates that the allegations relating to 'interested, politically connected parties' are baseless, and that our directors and shareholders are fit and proper, as per the Lotteries Act.' Tembe told amaBhungane he did not believe any answer they gave would ever satisfy the 'insatiable appetite to incriminate' Mashatile: 'We're private individuals who've got private lives like you… You're welcome to continue down that trajectory without our cooperation.' He maintained that they had submitted all necessary declarations to the NLC and that the consortium won the bid on merit. Fallout As a result of amaBhungane's reporting, members of Parliament grilled Tau about Mashatile's possible conflicts of interest during a committee meeting on Tuesday. Tau indicated he had been unaware that the Deputy President's sister-in-law had an interest in Sizekhaya and said the matter would be investigated. Mashatile also later claimed he was unaware of Bogatsu's participation in the lottery bid. Several questions put to Mashatile's office went unanswered. Then, in a shocking turn of events, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Wednesday that he had taken a decision to remove Deputy Minister of Trade Industry and Competition Andrew Whitfield, who is also a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA). Whitfield's firing was allegedly owing to his official overseas visit in February, which took place without Ramaphosa's permission. A furious DA gave Ramaphosa 48 hours to remove other poor performing and corruption-implicated ministers, threatening 'consequences' if he did not. In a speech on Thursday, DA leader John Steenhuisen told Parliament that 'perhaps there is something even deeper at play here… Andrew Whitfield… had opposed an attempt to make suspect appointments, he was standing in the way of the looting that will follow from the Transformation Fund – and all of this in a department mired in corruption allegations involving the tender for the National Lottery.' In a statement on Friday, Ramaphosa said Whitfield's firing was unrelated to anything else. 'There is really no basis for suggestions that the dismissal of the former deputy minister is related to any other reason than his failure to receive permission to travel and adhere to the rules and established practices expected of members of the Executive of the Republic of South Africa,' he said. Shabalala's rise and fall For Shabalala – whose engagement to Bogatsu appears to have given him direct access to Mashatile – to be included in the Deputy President's circle provides him a comeback after his dramatic fall from grace. In May 2021, the Sunday Times reported that Shabalala's estranged wife, Neo Shabalala, sought a high court interdict against Shabalala, claiming he had hired armed men to assault her then partner, Sipho Nzuza, at her Zimbali home. Nzuza was eThekwini municipal manager, but was at the time out on bail of R50,000 after being arrested in connection with the now-notorious Durban Solid Waste case, in which he is still on trial alongside former Mayor Zandile Gumede. The Sunday Times report said Nzuza had been left in a critical condition after the attack and had his spleen and part of a kidney removed. Neo claimed in her affidavit that the assault – at which Sbu Shabalala was allegedly present – was meant to intimidate her into signing a divorce settlement that she believed was for less than what she was entitled to. She claimed Shabalala was invading her privacy by planting listening devices in her home and monitoring her cellphone. 'I do not feel safe in the slightest with the First Respondent [Shabalala] being near me or entering the immovable property,' she said. Although Shabalala maintained his innocence, saying the allegations were without merit, he consented to the interdict and the fallout resulted in his fall from grace. After taking a three month leave of absence to 'attend to personal matters' he ended up resigning from Adapt IT – the feisty tech company that he had founded and taken to a listing on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange. 'We are coming home' – and bringing friends In growing closer to Mashatile through Bogatsu, Shabalala is said to have also brought his cousin, Tembe, into enhanced proximity. Tembe co-directs and co-owns Bellamont Gaming with Bogatsu, the twin sister of Mashatile's wife, Humile. The company is a minority shareholder in Sizekhaya, and it is central to questions of a conflict of interest for the Deputy President. The company's name, Sizekhaya – which translates to 'we are coming home' – seems apt for a group bound not only by business but also by longstanding personal relationships. Aside from the revealing video, the group also appeared together in a photo previously published by amaBhungane, taken at St Paul's Anglican Church in February 2024, where they gathered to honour victims of a bus crash following the ANC's manifesto launch at Moses Mabhida Stadium. While the published photo focused on Tembe, Mashatile and his wife in the front row, a closer look reveals Shabalala standing behind them to the right and a partially obscured woman who may be Bogatsu to his left, just behind the red jacket. That year, Mashatile had frequented Tembe's home in uMdloti, KwaZulu-Natal, according to people in the area, and around the time the photo was taken it is said that Mashatile's presidential protection unit stayed over at Tembe's house for around six days. Coincidentally or not, Bellamont Gaming was registered just months before that visit, in December 2023 – four months after the NLC published the request for proposal (FRP) for the licence and just two months before bids were due. In that month, Zungu was seemingly celebrating a special moment with Tembe, and a photo shared to his WhatsApp story shows the pair holding a baby girl, allegedly Zungu's. Miami and milestones 2023 was also the year that Shabalala and Bogatsu allegedly celebrated their own milestone – their alleged engagement in August in Miami. Tembe and Reggie Kukama – a well-known friend and associate of Mashatile's – as well as Kukama's son were allegedly there to witness the special occasion. Kukama and Mashatile are members of the so-called 'Alex mafia', a group of successful businessmen and politicians who hail from Alexandra, Johannesburg. More pictures from the same year show Shabalala and Bogatsu arm-in-arm with Zungu and his wife, Nozipho. Another image shows the alleged couple with a close friend at a lunch hosted for the group. Another shows Bogatsu and Shabalala alongside the ANC's Tony Yengeni in an intimate lunch setting. On 2 February 2024, the day before the lottery bids were due, Shabalala, Bogatsu, Tembe and his wife, Princess Nandoyesizwe Tembe (formerly Zulu), were photographed at the opening of the Anele Tembe Library at Durban Girls' College. It was a special occasion for Tembe as a grieving father. His daughter Anele died in 2001 after falling from a balcony in the presence of her then fiancé, rapper Kiernan AKA Forbes. Forbes died two years later after being shot in Durban. 'Not enough to buy an aeroplane' In response to amaBhungane's questions, Tembe dismissed questions about his relationships as an 'invasion of privacy and humiliating'. He said that in his various positions, he has met 'almost all leaders across the political spectrum in their home and my home'. 'It's my duty to share notes on all issues that impact business and to influence them to inculcate and live Godly values. None of them (across the political spectrum) would ever say I discussed personal interests.' Mashatile, he said, had no financial interest in Sizekhaya's bid. He added that the bid was never discussed with Mashatile and confirmed his shareholding in Sizekhaya, but claimed that it was 'insignificant' and 'much less than 10%'. He added: 'The NLC takes the biggest chunk of the top line and winnings even higher. No shareholder would make money to buy an aeroplane.' Political alignment Tau and Mashatile have also risen through the political ranks together. From December 2000, Tau served as a member of the mayoral committee (MMC) in Johannesburg for various portfolios until 2009, when he was elected to the Gauteng ANC provincial executive committee. Around this time, from 1994 until 2009, Mashatile served as MEC in various portfolios, also in Gauteng. From 2007 to 2017, Mashatile served as provincial chairperson of the ANC in Gauteng and from 2011 to 2016 – the same period – Tau served as mayor of Johannesburg. Parliamentary grilling Tau maintained in a parliamentary portfolio committee meeting this week that the process of awarding the licence to Sizekhaya Holdings was fair, but said he would go back and investigate allegations of a conflict of interest between the Deputy President and his sister-in-law. 'Fit and proper is a continuous process. There are allegations that have been raised in the media,' Tau said. 'We have looked at those allegations and we will look at them because they are specific allegations; you cannot ignore them. It would be irresponsible of us to ignore what has been raised in the public domain by investigative journalists in the media and so on.' Tau added that they would get appropriate advice on whether the Deputy President's relationship constitutes a conflict of interest, political affiliation and any other considerations. DM
The South African
2 days ago
- The South African
ActionSA wants deputy ministers axed, plans to save billions
Andrew Whitfield's dismissal as Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition has sparked major reactions. ActionSA has weighed in and called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove the remaining 42 deputy ministers from their posts. ActionSA's Athol Trollip says the executive must be freed from incompetence, underperformance, and impropriety. He says Ramaphosa should implement bold reforms that deliver real accountability. The party believes that Ramaphosa missed an opportunity to make decisive changes and steer the country in a new direction. He said the president failed to 'cut the dead wood' and remove those tainted by corruption and mismanagement. The political party says it has introduced a bill to slash cabinet perks and rein in executive excess. The Enhanced Cut Cabinet Perks Bill is part of ActionSA's Cabinet Reform Package. '[It] will soon see us table a Constitutional Amendment Bill in Parliament to abolish the position of Deputy Ministers altogether. Measures that together could conservatively save South Africans R1.5 billion a year,' said Trollip. Trollip said Minister Thembi Simelane, Minister Khumbudzo Ntshaveni and Minister Nobuhle Nkabane should have been removed, but instead they remain firmly in place. He said the ActionSA believes that South Africans deserve leadership that serves them, not themselves. 'Ramaphosa's cabinet is not only one of the largest in the world but also deeply ineffective, with worsening socio-economic indicators reflecting a failure rooted in absent reforms,' added Trollip. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 11. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news
