The South African Post Office (Sapo) will spend R50 million on mail security in the next financial year, chief executive Motshoanetsi Lefoka announced on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
"I am committed to reducing mail crime," she said in releasing the Sapo’s annual results for 2008. <\/p>\n
Lefoka acknowledged that there was still "some scepticism" about the Post Office’s image when it came to mail security, particularly in light of the case involving internet retailer, Amazon.com. <\/p>\n
In June, Amazon announced that it would no longer send goods to South Africa by post because of rampant theft by post office workers. <\/p>\n
It said customers would have to pay for a private courier service adding about R420 to the price of a DVD. <\/p>\n
At the time, the post office expressed surprise at Amazon’s move, which it found "unexpected". It however said there had been 1 699 reports of mail theft in the 2007 financial year. <\/p>\n
Spokesperson Lungile Lose said there was a 99% success rate in pursuing these cases. <\/p>\n
He said Sapo had installed specialist technology, including cameras at sorting centres, and had established a crime and ethics line for postal workers to report any suspicious behaviour. <\/p>\n
Lefoka said on Tuesday: "One letter undelivered is one letter too many," <\/p>\n
She said Sapo hoped to improve its 93% mail delivery rate to 95% in the next year, and to 98% within three years of rolling out its new postal coding system. <\/p>\n
Lefoka said Sapo made R565m in pre-tax profits in 2008, up 12% from the R507m posted last year. <\/p>\n
This was on the back of a seven percent rise in revenue from R5.2bn in 2007 to R5.6bn in the year under review. <\/p>\n
"Of particular note was the group’s ability to manage its expenses, which grew at an inflation-beating seven percent," she said in a statement, adding that this had resulted in a profit margin of just over 10%. <\/p>\n
Total assets grew by 10% from R7bn to R7.7bn, while cash and investments on the balance sheet increased 17.4% from R4.6bn to R5.4bn. <\/p>\n
Describing this as a "sound financial platform", Lefoka said it was central to the company efficiently connecting with the world. <\/p>\n
Sapo’s shareholder had agreed to provide it with a R372m subsidy in the next financial year, and to increase this to R383m in 2010. <\/p>\n
She said the subsidy would mainly contribute to operational and capital expenditure in areas not commercially viable in South Africa. <\/p>\n
Sapo had a "serviceable landscape" of 1.2 million sq km, was responsible for more than 2 500 outlets, 5 500 service points and employed 16 000 people who delivered six million mail items a day. In the past three years, the number of addresses it reached had increased by nearly 5.7m, more than two-thirds of them in rural areas. <\/p>\n