New CEO for the South African Post Office

The embattled Post Office has finally appointed a new CEO. Bruce Whitfield talks to the lady in the hotseat.

Bruce Whitfield:
Well the Post Office has got a new chief executive. The woman who has occupied the position in an acting capacity since Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri sacked the last guy, he was Khutso Mampeule, who has taking over the position which had been occupied variously over the past 10 years by Mampeule, before him Maanda Manyatshe who had been accused of being crooked and before that a series of chairman had been in an acting CEO capacity. And we have been following the story quite closely ever since we were leaked a Deloitte governance report into the goings on at the Post Office, it made fascinating reading, it made fascinating listening, and Motshoanetsi Lefoka is the person who has taken over as chief executive at the South African Post Office and you are a braver person than I am Motshoanetsi.

Motshoanetsi Lefoka:
Good evening to you Bruce.

Bruce Whitfield:
So many of your predecessors have come and gone in recent years, you are probably the third chief executive at the Post Office in the last three years, a lot of people would say this is a poisoned chalice and you are taking on a very big job. What is your response to that?

Motshoanetsi Lefoka:
The job is quite a challenge and I believe the Post Office is an exciting organisation and I think the Post Office has proved itself despite the challenges that it has had in the past few years. But I also believe that some of the leadership that we have had have really put stability into the organisation and put the platform to work currently as the organisation we are experiencing. So it is quite an exciting time for the Post Office and an exciting time for me personally.

Bruce Whitfield:
Absolutely I mean you have got obviously some very big personal challenges within the Post Office. What do you see as your priorities as the new full-time chief executive of the Post Office the first person to have this job in about a year?

Motshoanetsi Lefoka:
I think the challenge is what you have just outlined Bruce. The perception about the Post Office as you currently paint is a perception or a reality that as an employee of the Post Office that I have been in the past five years is a reality that I don't have. So the challenge would be to really change that perception within people's minds about what the Post Office is all about. The Post Office is one of those state owned enterprises that has really proved itself in the past five years. Our financial performance shows despite the challenges that we have had last year we reported quite good results and in fact we continue to do so.

Bruce Whitfield:
You did report profits last year or something like R400-million which is all well and good but your chairperson Vuyo Mahlati at Parliament about three weeks ago I think it was she referred to the theft issues within the Post Office and the committee that was hearing the representation there was very critical of the Post Office. That is not a perception issue, for a lot of people that is a big reality, something that you have to address.

Motshoanetsi Lefoka:
No we do have challenges and we have realities that we are dealing with and some of the challenges that we have are challenges that are faced by all organisations. The reality is that we need to be able to up our service improvement into a way that is expected – that is one issue that we need to deal with. We also need to deal with some of the issues that are really worrying us. I think the issues that are currently there in terms of the perception that our procurement processes are not correct and we have put in a lot of controls over the years and we have really improved that. What is interesting about this discussion Bruce is that even on the interview that you held most of the issues that we are talking about are issues that are coming from a long time ago, a long time ago in terms of four years. Yes we need to address those issues, we need to put systems and processes in place to ensure that as we go forward they don't recur and we also need to put the confidence and comfort in the people of South Africa that the Post Office in fact has turned around as we believe it has and it is going to be able to really grow itself into a very formidable organisation within the economy.

Bruce Whitfield:
All of that stuff you say is absolutely true but theft is an issue; do you acknowledge that?

Motshoanetsi Lefoka:
We do have an issue around theft; we have issues where we get attacked and robberies within our Post Offices that really impact on the delivery of services. We do have issues around our service ethos within the Post Office that we are trying to address. We do have issues around some of the things that we need to deal with in terms of our IT systems that need to be improved and we have put in quite a lot of money to make sure that that happens. We do have an issue in terms of making sure that we meet our mandates and making sure that our presence as big as it is now needs to be expanded to a point where it will be accessible to each and every South African within the country. We also have to deal with issues of people within the organisation that we get the skills that we require because where we are taking the Post Office will require a different set of skills so we need to do a lot of training and development and just the intake of new skills that we require as we take the organisation forward.

Bruce Whitfield:
It is a massive job Motshoanetsi – what are your time frames on all of these different targets?

Motshoanetsi Lefoka:
Bruce my appointment has just been made today and what I would like to really do is to be given an opportunity to sit together with the team, to sit together with the board, the shareholders, to put a plan together that will be acceptable to us. We are an organisation that reports to the shareholder, our shareholder is in fact each and every South African within the country. We need to be able when we put a plan that will be acceptable and we put measurements that we will be doing and all that will be coming through to you as soon as I can. If I can just take a breath after the announcement of today thank you.

Bruce Whitfield:
But you have got all of these operational issues which are enormous issues, there are legacy issues in there as well, you have also got the massive distractions and very real legal threats from Khutso Mampeule who is considering suing, Maanda Manyatshe who is suing because he believes that Mampeule when he came into office dist him in an unacceptable way. You also have got people who were contactors to the Post Office underneath the controversial refurbishment of the Post Office contract who are also suing the Post Office as well. How are you tackling those issues? Are they left up to you or is it your board that has to deal with those?

Motshoanetsi Lefoka:
Some of the issues will be dealt with by the board and some of the issues are operational and will be dealt with by myself and the leadership and some of them are currently being addressed and I think the media and the people will know about the outcomes of how we are dealing with those issues but we are currently addressing all those issues that we have.

Bruce Whitfield:
Because Manyashe is really campaigning quite aggressively to clear his name at the moment with regard to those refurbishment contracts. Is the Post Office actually ever going to prosecute him because as I understand it no formal police complaint has actually ever been laid?

Motshoanetsi Lefoka:
Like I said Bruce some of those issues are sub judice and I'm sure you understand that I cannot make a comment on those issues currently and when the time comes and when the time is right we will comment as a Post Office in terms of the outcome.

Bruce Whitfield:
Do you not think that these things are going to distract you from the very noble targets that you do have in turning around the operations of the Post Office? There is just so much other stuff going on that is going to be occupying a lot of your time.

Motshoanetsi Lefoka:
Bruce challenges like those I think each and every organisation in the world faces possible challenges like that and it is in fact the role of the CEO and in fact the responsibility for the organisation to be able to deal with those issues. There are normal processes within an organisation, obviously what we experienced is not what we would have loved to experience, so that we can be able to focus on other issues but the reality in driving any business within the organisation so they are challenges that we will meet and are challenges that I am prepared to sit down and meet personally.

Bruce Whitfield:
Motshoanetsi Lefoka we wish you all the very best of luck. The new chief executive of the Post Office, been in an acting role for several months now since her predecessor was kicked out by the Minister. Her predecessor of course was the guy who accused his predecessor of corruption. Good luck to her.

Bruce Whitfield:
We were speaking to Motshoanetsi Lefoka, the Post Office chief executive, appointed today. Maanda Manyatshe called us and he wants to make a comment about Motshoanetsi. Good evening Maanda how are you doing?

Maanda Manyatshe:
Good evening Bruce how are you?

Bruce Whitfield:
We are good. What is your comment about Motshoanetsi?

Maanda Manyatshe:
I think it is a fantastic appointment. Motshoanetsi was appointed as chief operating officer during my time at the Post Office. I appointed her and she has got big potential. When I left one of the recommendations I did was to see that she is my possible replacement. I am happy that even though it took the Post Office, even though it took them four years, to eventually realise the potential.

Bruce Whitfield:
Do you see hope for the Post Office now Maanda because I mean as a former chief executive who was involved in righting many of the wrongs of the previous regime that preceded you, you then left your contract early, you recommended Motshoanetsi and then of course Mampeule was appointed after you, then he accused you of fraud and all sorts of other terrible things. Do you see hope for the Post Office now?

Maanda Manyatshe:
I still do. I still think the Post Office has a big role to play in this country especially if they do the plans that we did. She was part of the strategic workshop wherein we decided what the Post Office is supposed to do to change itself to be relevant to what is happening today. They need to mend their relationship with Home Affairs, I know that some things have not gone right, I saw it in the papers, because that is where the future of the Post Office is is in electronic communication. When we did the Electronic Communication Act we made sure that the Post Office was put down in the law of this country as an official authoriser of electronic transactions. So there is a lot of hope for the Post Office and it can still grow to be a big organisation.

Bruce Whitfield:
So thumbs up for Motshoanetsi who has been appointed today, I'm sure she will be very pleased with your support. What does it mean though for your own strategy because you’d been on a very aggressive drive to try and clear your name as well? I asked Motshoanetsi the question saying are they actually going to lay a charge against you or are they going to let it go and clear your name.

Maanda Manyatshe:
I think you put her in a very difficult position because remember I was appointed by the board not by the CEO. So the person to really comment on my action is the board but it is interesting to note that when I was accused she was also accused and the chief financial officer was also accused. The two have been cleared and they have not sued the Post Office; I have not been cleared as yet.

Bruce Whitfield:
But you are still suing because you were going to file papers for R274-million. You still going ahead with that?

Maanda Manyatshe:
The papers have been filed. I cannot stop before I am cleared Bruce, I don't have a choice, it is my life that they have put and hung me up and I need to regain my life.

Bruce Whitfield:
Maanda Manyatshe thank you for calling us this evening, the former chief executive of the Post Office giving a thumbs up to a woman he appointed as the chief operating officer, Motshoanetsi Lefoka, today she is appointed as the CEO of the Post Office.