The Postbank was separated from Sapo, which is now under business rescue, and was touted as a possible state bank by the ANC. Picture: Bhekikhaya Mabaso / Independent Newspapers
THE South African Postbank has been granted a month-long extension to hold its annual general meeting (AGM) scheduled for next week due to incomplete financial statements.
The state-owned Postbank, whose operations were formally separated from the SA Post Office (Sapo) a few years ago, is unable to hold its AGM due to incomplete annual financial statements (AFS).
This comes as the Postbank’s former parent company Sapo is struggling to recover after it was placed under business rescue.
According to the Postbank, to prepare the AFS needed to convene the AGM for its shareholders, the entity needed to obtain a system capable of producing data that could not be manipulated.
”The data reconciliation process was time-consuming and extensive. This step had to be completed prior to finalising the AFS. The AFS were submitted for audit, which is expected to be finalised by January 30. Consequently, the applicant (Postbank) requests an extension to February 28 to convene its AGM,” the financial institution told the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission’s Companies Tribunal.
In addition, the Postbank explained that it provided sufficient grounds for the tribunal to grant the requested extension.
A company’s AGM provides a platform for the shareholder to hold the board of directors accountable for the overall status and performance of the company.
”Unreasonable extension of the AGM makes this accountability mechanism impossible. It also provides an opportunity to elect or re-elect the directors, appoint auditors to approve their remuneration, and discuss any matter that may arise,” the tribunal’s presiding member Minah Tong-Mongalo.
Tong-Mongalo found last Thursday that assessing whether a good cause has been shown is a factual determination based on the circumstances of each case.
”I am satisfied that the applicant has shown good cause to grant an extension as requested by the applicant,” she explained.
Tong-Mongalo granted the Postbank’s application ordered the entity to convene its AGM by no later than February 28, 2025.
The separation of the Postbank from Sapo was first mooted in 2015 but was delayed by the Post Office’s financial and operational challenges.
At its 55th national conference in 2022, the ANC resolved that the government should support the transformation of Sapo to be competitive and viable in digital economy including the funding of its mandate.
The party undertook to finalise the corporatisation of the Postbank and transform it into a state bank by the end of 2023.
At the time, R92 million was stolen from the Postbank when fraudsters colluded with an external supplier and Postbank’s internal staff.
The fraudsters manipulated account balances by artificially inflating them on the bank’s system and then collaborated with individuals at Sapo branches to issue cloned cards or reset personal identification numbers, which enabled withdrawals from the inflated accounts.
The fraudsters then withdrew the funds rapidly across the country using runners and exploited dormant or flagged beneficiary accounts that had legitimate grant payments but were under investigation for fraud.
Some Sapo staff members collaborated to temporarily unblocked the accounts, allowing withdrawals before re-blocking them.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za
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