Irene Country Club
The South African Post Office forked out R617 651.60 on an eight-year membership at the Irene Country Club in Tshwane when the entity was facing a cash crunch.
DA MP, Cameron Mackenzie, said details of the expenditure on the Country Club membership since 2012, were contained in a written reply to Parliamentary Questions by the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.
“Adding insult to injury, during the time this corporate membership was paid for, there were numerous instances of post offices being shut for non-payment of rent, fleet vehicles unable to operate for lack of fuel, and a catalogue of unpaid suppliers ranging from printer ink to post office maintenance,” he said.
Mackenzie said during the eight years in which SAPO executives wined and dined, played golf on the Top 50 course as well as indulged in games of cricket, tennis, bowls, and squash, SAPO faced warnings from the Auditor General (AG) year after year regarding its ability to operate as a going concern.
He said it was unacceptable that, at a time when the SAPO was being kept afloat on billion Rand bailouts, that money could still be found to pay these country club fees on time, every time.
Minister Ndabeni Abrahams said South African Post Office membership at Irene Country Club was terminated in 2019 and would not be renewed “under the circumstances.”
