SA Post Office CEO Mark Barnes has been ordered to appear before the telecommunications ministry after taking R200 million from Postbank, stated a report in the City Press.

The money taken from Postbank, a subsidiary of the Post Office, was used to pay creditors, added the report.

“The minister was not informed of the transaction in question. He has summoned the chairpersons, chief executive officers, and chief financial officers to a meeting on Monday,” said a department spokesperson.

Barnes told the City Press the money “did not belong to depositors and that no lines were crossed”.

“He added that such transfers have no effect on either the capital adequacy ratio or any requirements imposed by National Treasury,” stated the report.

The move comes at a time when the Post Office is under financial strain and owes multiple suppliers money.

Earlier this year, it faced legal action from eight suppliers which were owed R101 million.

For the year ending June 2018, the Post Office also reported a net loss of R142 million.

Bad times

A series of tests by MyBroadband recently revealed the current poor state of affairs at the Post Office, with the state entity unable to even deliver letters.

The Post Office has also been plagued by website and systems downtime this year, which has left users incredibly frustrated.

Many local ecommerce shops told MyBroadband they do not consider the Post Office as a delivery method anymore, because of the poor service levels and the lack of guarantee customers will receive their deliveries.

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