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The South African Cabinet today approved the short-listing of two leading international postal operators - Canada Post International and the New Zealand Post International/Royal Mail consortia - for the tender to become the strategic management partner for the SA Post Office.

"We received excellent proposals from all four of the bidders, the interest we have received in this transaction has been very encouraging. In fact, it was difficult to choose only two for the short-list. However, I believe that in the New Zealand Post International/Royal Mail consortia and Canada Post International, we have two proposals which will definitely meet our objectives of turning the SA Post Office into a world-class operator," Naidoo says.

PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ebony Financial Services (transaction advisers to the Department of Communications), representatives from the SA Post Office, the SA Post Office board of directors, labour unions, the Department of Communications- evaluated each proposal according to the criteria set out in the Request for Proposals, namely:

The extent to which the bidders proposals would achieve the technical requirements (40% of total evaluation score); The value for money offered by the bidders financial proposals, and the extent to which these were self-financing and supported by incentivised fee arrangements based on the achievement of specific performance targets (30% weight);

The experience of specific individuals that bidders proposed to make available (20% weight);and

The bidder's proposals for managing and developing the working relationship with the SA Post Office, and the extent to which the bidder was perceived to work well in partnership with the Post Office (10% weight).

Canada Post International has Andersen Consulting and Morgan University Alliance among its consortia members. New Zealand Post International has British Post Consultancy Service (a division of Royal Mail), SAM Sisonke Postal Consortium, Deloitte & Touche and Gobodo Corporate Finance as its associates in the bid.

An evaluation team will travel to Canada and New Zealand in mid June to have on- site meetings with a variety of stakeholders from the short-listed bidding companies, and an announcement of the winning bid is expected to be made by the end of June, says Naidoo.

Government aims to reposition the SA Post Office as a more competitive company, responsive to the needs of its customers.

"With postal services becoming increasingly competitive globally, it is important to position the SA Post Office in a strategic alliance that will most benefit it in the future," he says.

"Locally, the SA Post Office is in a strong position to become a hub for the region and the continent. I believe that with the help of a strategic management partner such as Canada Post International or New Zealand Post International/Royal Mail, we can reposition the SA Post Office locally and globally, developing it into a competitive entity through the introduction of new services and products, more efficient management, increased productivity and improved customer service levels," says Naidoo.

Contact: Mandy Jean Woods
Phone: 082 653 4211 or (012) 427-8111

Issued by the Ministry for Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting, 26 May 1999
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