Former chief executive officer of the South African Post Office Mark Barnes says he regrets resigning from his position.
Barnes, who had attempted to buy a stake at South African Post Office, resigned from his position after three years at his job, over differences in the upper echelon relating to the structure and the location of the Postbank.
In September 2021, it was also reported that Barnes had tabled an offer with the government which it would have seen him lead a strong consortium purchase of a 60% stake of the business.
In an exclusive interview with JJ Tabane's Power to Truth on eNCA, Barnes said that when the government was busy with changes, he should have stayed on and fought for what he believed in.
"I saw the world driven by the centralised data system where every counter at the post office was the terminal between the state and the people of South Africa.
"If you want an antiretroviral, don’t get into a taxi from Mthatha to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, go to the local post office and present your phone and they are going to give you your antiretroviral at the counter," he told eNCA.
Barnes further added that: "If I was still there at the Post Office, we would have gone there for Covid-19 vaccines or any interface."
He highlighted that he did not need a bank to lend money and he needed it so that he could access the national payment system so that they could pay social grants.
"Social grants, in my view, are a service, not a business. The private sector was running the social grants and the year we took them over they declared that they have lost $76 million (R139m).
"We were in the process of talking about one funeral scheme and medical aid. We saw the Post Office as the commercial irreplaceable, physical footprint with access to core data of citizens of South Africa," Barnes said.
IOL