House of Assembly: Vol67 - MONDAY 21 MARCH 1977
Mr. Speaker, I move—
At the outset I wish to inform the House about the progress made during the current financial year, which in many ways was a good one for the Post Office, and also gives an indication of the prospects for 1977-’78.
Since I assumed responsibility for this portfolio I have been impressed by the purposeful steps taken to achieve full utilization of labour, ensure work satisfaction and motivate the staff, with a resultant improvement in productivity and the quality of service.
In this connection I should like to mention that the staff establishment increased by only 2,19% during the year. On the other hand the number of telephones provided is expected to increase by 6,5%, the number of metered call units by 15,4% and the total turnover by 21%—which will represent a new record of R3 122 million.
I am pleased to say that the employer/ employee relationship in the Post Office is good. The high morale of the staff is constantly being underlined in the present difficult economic circumstances where the staff time and again do more out of their own free will than can be reasonably expected, and perform duty outside their normal hours of attendance without extra remuneration.
Thousands of Post Office officials have, in fact, for more than six years been working voluntarily two hours per week longer than required by their conditions of service.
Where condemnation of State officials has lately become more common, it is refreshing to know that prominent and responsible bodies in the private sector, such as the Handelsinstituut, Assocom, FCI and the National Consultative Committee on Post Office Affairs, increasingly express their appreciation of the achievements of Post Office officials. They decidedly deserve the highest appreciation of all South Africans and of this House for the way in which they carry out their task.
General staff position
Mainly because of the economic recession the position has gradually improved.
During 1976 the overall staff turnover in the posts on the fixed establishment was 24,23% as compared with 26,27% during 1975; there were altogether 7 145 resignations against 7 825 during the preceding twelve months.
At the beginning of this year a total of 820 White youths were recruited for clerical work as against 885 last year. The most encouraging aspect here is that we recruited more males (320 compared with 234), of which 46% more were matriculated. Although recruiting results in this category were poorer than in the previous year, we are confident that, as a result of the scientific selection techniques introduced recently, there will not only be better utilization of the additional manpower, but that our staff losses amongst new appointees should be lower than before.
On the critical technical and semi-technical front there has been, broadly speaking, an improvement. During 1976 a total of 534 trained men resigned as against 651 during 1975. There are at present close on 3 000 Whites in various stages of training as technicians and telephone electricians.
Since the training of non-Whites in this field was commenced in 1971, altogether 294 have completed their training as electricians, while 449 are still in training. A further 153 are being trained as technicians and the first group of 29 is expected to become fully qualified technicians this year.
Were it not for its dynamic training policy, the Post Office would not have been able to cope in recent times and make such substantial progress with the expansion of the telecommunications system.
From the particulars in the capital programme it will be apparent to hon. members that the department is continuing the expansion of its capacity in this field. Five building projects (three for the training of Whites and two for non-Whites) at an estimated total cost of R6,5 million have been included in the building programme.
The Post Office regards expenditure on training as a good long-term investment and in the national interest.
Salaries
Although the salary relief which officials received on 1 July 1976 did not meet their expectations, the spirit in which they accepted the Government’s decision again showed that they put the national interest above their own. For this understanding and loyalty we are sincerely grateful.
In the meantime the cost of living has risen further and the Government is aware of the sacrifices our officials have to make in this regard. However, further relief will be considered if and when the economic position of the country permits.
Study assistance
To provide in the need for academically qualified staff in the Post Office, bursaries are granted annually to school-leavers who wish to make the Post Office their career, as well as to serving officials who wish to improve their qualifications by part-time study. At present some 200 holders of Post Office bursaries are studying in various directions such as B.Sc. (Electrical Engineering), B.Sc. (Mechanical Engineering), B.Sc. (Computer Science), B.Com., etc.
Independence of homelands
The establishment of an autonomous Transkeian Department of Posts and Telecommunications was a task of considerable magnitude, but because the Post Office had already started the displacement of Whites and the training of Xhosas a number of years ago in preparation for independence, the takeover took place without a hitch. Close on 700 staff members were involved. There are only 77 White Post Office officials left in Transkei who have been seconded to the Transkeian Government for a transitional period.
We should like to welcome heartily the independent sister administration in the universal communications fraternity, to wish it success on the road ahead and to assure it of our sincere willingness and desire to assist wherever we can.
The Post Office is already training staff to take over control of postal and telecommunications affairs in Bophuthatswana after independence. If it is necessary and desired by that Government, officials will also be seconded to Bophuthatswana for a period to render assistance.
Priority Mail Service
Hon. members will recall that I informed this House last year about a new service, known as the priority mail service, which the Post Office intended to introduce on a trial basis with effect from 1 April 1976. The prime purpose of the service was to provide a facility for the overnight transmission of exceptionally urgent items such as medicines, computer and business documents, etc.; initially only between Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. The service was patronized so well right from the start that it was extended to Pretoria and Port Elizabeth on 1 October last year and to East London on 3 January of this year. We shall extend it to other centres as and when the need arises.
Postal Mechanization
The sorting machine installations in Johannesburg and Cape Town are functioning satisfactorily and are collectively processing approximately 25 million articles per month. The Durban sorting machine to which I referred in my address last year, will be commissioned shortly and I am optimistic that it, too, will make its contribution to enhance productivity and to the provision of better service.
There is no doubt that sorting machines contribute appreciably to accelerating the flow of postal traffic. Although there are no firm plans at this stage to install further machines, I can reasonably predict that mechanized mail processing will be used to an ever increasing extent in the future.
Automatic mail sorting machines can only process postal items of which the mass does not exceed 50 g and in respect of which the dimensions are within the limits prescribed for standardized mail, viz. minimum 90 mm × 140 mm; maximum 120 mm × 235 mm, and a maximum thickness of 5 mm. Because the equipment has been provided at great expense, it is essential that it should be put to optimum use.
In an endeavour to achieve this, the Post Office introduced the ALL UP mail service on 1 April 1976 in terms of which all standardized postal articles on which postage has been prepaid at the surface mail rate are automatically conveyed by air, provided delivery can be expedited thereby. A higher postage rate applies to non-standardized items.
The use of standardized size envelopes and the addition of postal codes in the addresses are essential if we are to derive the full benefit from automation. By giving its full co-operation, the public will assist us in our endeavours to achieve greater efficiency and to obviate having to increase tariffs to a level that could have been avoided.
Overseas Mission
With a view to providing a more efficient postal service for the RSA, the department recently sent a team of experts to leading European postal administrations to make a study of their systems and techniques for implementation where it can be fruitfully done.
Management is now studying the findings and recommendations of the mission. The department is optimistic that, from what has been learnt, it will eliminate some of the problem areas that give rise to delays and poor service at certain centres, and thereby improve the quality of service rendered to specific communities.
Loss on Postal Service
Mainly because of its labour intensive nature, postal services throughout the world are being operated at a loss; also because a Government is obliged to render service to its peoples even in the remotest areas and irrespective of whether it is economical or not.
It is for this reason that, unlike in the case of the telecommunications service, nobody ever clamours for the take-over of postal services by private enterprise.
To give hon. members an indication of the losses that are suffered, I should like to mention that the U.S. postal services reflected a loss of more than 2 000 million dollars during the previous financial year, despite an average tariff increase of 26%.
Our loss for the current financial year is estimated to be R27 million. Without taking into account the effect of inflation and other factors that could cause increased costs, we shall, at existing tariffs, suffer a loss of approximately R37 million in the ensuing financial year.
We must therefore accept that the telecommunication service will subsidize the postal service to this extent and the question arises whether this is sound policy.
The Post Office holds the view that it is in all respects desirable that, within reasonable bounds, the tariff and cost of a service should be in equilibrium.
At the same time it is true that the two services combined form a communication service and supplement each other. Both are essential in the national interest and because modern techniques displace traffic from the one to the other, it is in such circumstances not unreasonable to accept a measure of subsidization as justified.
It is consequently the Post Office’s policy to accept the subsidizing, within reasonable limits, of the postal service by the telecommunication service as unavoidable. It is supported in this view by organized commerce and industry through the medium of the National Consultative Committee on Post Office Affairs.
Philatelic Services
This facet of the postal service shows great promise and is doing good business abroad, where stamps to the value of more than R134 000 were sold for philatelic purposes during the calendar year 1976.
During the past five calendar years (1972 to 1976) the total annual sales of stamps for philatelic purposes increased from R131 000 to more than R1,5 million.
A new definitive series of postage stamps will be issued for the Republic on 27 May. This series will depict various species of protea—among which our national flower, the Protea cynaroides—and will, it is trusted, prove popular with stamp collectors here and overseas.
To eliminate waste, stamps of the current series will not, as in the past, be destroyed with the introduction of the new series, but will be used mainly on parcels and telegrams.
With the object of expanding its services to collectors and of rendering assistance to emerging and neighbouring postal administrations in philatelic matters, the Post Office has established a philatelic Agency for Southern Africa, known as INTERSAPA, with headquarters in Pretoria. The Agency will strive to establish and maintain a healthy and conservative philatelic image for Southern Africa. INTERSAPA is already managing all philatelic services on behalf of the Department of Posts and Telecommunications of the Republic of Transkei.
It is proposed to expend an amount of R22,4 million on buildings during 1977-’78. Concerted efforts were made to limit capital expenditure, but this amount is the minimum required for the growing telecommunications services.
Altogether 32 major building works have been postponed for periods that vary from 1 to 2 years, while 6 projects have been deleted from the buildings programme altogether. It is estimated that R600 000 would have been expended during 1977-’78 on the services that have been postponed.
An important major work to be commenced in 1977-’78 is the microwave tower at Lukasrand, Pretoria. The erection of this tower can no longer be delayed, since it forms an important link in the national microwave network.
The department utilizes hired accommodation wherever it is possible and economic to do so, with a view to limiting capital expenditure. It is expected that R3,4 million will be spent on hirings during the current financial year.
During this year good progress has again been made with the process of computerization. To cope with greater workloads and increasing demands and in view of the continuous improvement in computer equipment and techniques, a bigger and more powerful computer, which is specially equipped for on-line working, has been ordered for delivery during 1978. The extensive telecommunication accounts and information system is being planned accordingly.
Members of the Data Branch were sent overseas last year to further plan and develop our own data communication network (SAPONET) in conjunction with the suppliers. The question as to whether the network will be offered for use by the private sector, is currently being considered.
A contract has been negotiated with private consultants for the development of a computerized management information and accounting system. Such a system, which is aimed at the prompt availability of information to management and better control over finances, will be of great benefit to the Post Office.
This system will modernize Post Office Cash and Ledger Accounting. At the same time it will simplify accounting procedures for all counter transactions at each of the country’s approximately 1 800 post offices. It will link in with SAPONET and will provide for decentralized capturing of all relevant information and regular updating in Pretoria when it becomes “live” in about three years’ time.
Telephone Services
During the current financial year a total of 137 000 (6 000 more than during the previous financial year) additional telephones will have been provided which will bring the grand total to about 2 248 000. Of this figure, 9 000 telephones have been transferred to Transkei.
In order to give an indication of the magnitude of the task involved in providing so many additional services (net) I should like to mention that more than a million telephones were in fact involved, i.e. new connections, discontinuances and transfers.
There were 93 480 deferred applications for exchange connections at the end of the previous financial year. It is expected that this figure will be reduced to about 80 000 by the 31 March of this year. This is the lowest figure in respect of waiting applicants since 1969.
It is expected that a total of 46 manual exchanges will be converted to automatic working during this financial year. In addition the manual exchange at Umtata was converted to automatic working on 25 September 1976, i.e. before Transkei gained independence. Apart from this, a further 33 new automatic exchanges will be put into service which will bring the total that were automated, enlarged and provided in one year to 170.
It is expected that the capacity of our automatic telephone exchanges will be increased by 133 780 lines including 4 776 party lines during the 1976-’77 financial year, a 10,9% growth.
The programme for the 1977-’78 financial year provides for the conversion of 37 manual exchanges to automatic working. In order to provide waiting applicants in existing automatic exchange areas with telephone service and to relieve congestion in certain exchanges, it is the intention to extend 94 existing automatic exchanges during the next financial year. This includes replacement of 17 exchanges by larger units. Provision has also been made for the establishment of 22 new automatic exchanges.
It is expected that the capacity of our automatic telephone exchanges will be extended by approximately 131 000 lines (including conversions) during the 1977-’78 financial year; in other words, more or less on the same level as this financial year.
National dialling
The most important development in this area during the past year has been the acquisition and commissioning of sophitisticated surveillance equipment known as AUTRAX. By means of 50 000 connections at various points within the national dialling network, this equipment at present measures the efficiency of all the trunk lines between the major centres as well as our overseas and interterritorial circuits. It is planned to double the capacity of the Autrax system during 1977-’78 in order to provide surveillance facilities over the major portion of the national dialling network.
The equipment is controlled by a computer that analyses the state of the trunk lines every hour thus enabling the Post Office to identify faulty trunk lines quickly and to take remedial action. The system will assist the Post Office a great deal in further improving the quality of the national trunk line service and in ensuring full exploitation of the trunk line apparatus.
The extension to the Port Elizabeth automatic trunk exchange was completed during the past year. Extensions to the Johannesburg and Durban trunk exchanges will, according to expectations, be completed towards the middle of this year whilst the work on the extension to the exchange at Cape Town will in all probability only be finalized by the end of the 1977-’78 financial year. Other minor projects aimed at relieving the overall situation is also under way.
At present, most of the major trunk routes are still in congestion, mainly because of the inordinate growth in traffic, ranging from 12%% to 16% on the primary routes. However, from about the middle of this year there should be a progressive improvement, particularly with respect to Johannesburg trunk traffic. By mid 1978 the overall position should have improved appreciably.
Electronic telephone exchanges
The South African Post Office reached a milestone in its history with the commissioning of the first electronic exchange (Type CP24) at Constantia Park, Pretoria, on 29 October 1976. Equipment of this type will form the basis of our future standard telephone system.
A year ago I expressed the hope that by 31 March 1977 there would be six of these 1 000-line transportable units in service. However, unforeseen problems which have since been solved, were encountered with the result that only three will be in service by that date, i.e. Constantia Park, Bardene (Witwatersrand) and St. Winifreds (Natal). The remaining three units will be put into service early in the next financial year.
As was originally expected, indications are that the fault rate at these units will be so low that the daily staffing of the exchanges will be unnecessary. As a matter of fact, these exchanges can be fully controlled and maintained from a remotely located maintenance centre where technicians will be kept fully informed as to the working of the exchange. They will, for example, be able by remote control to isolate and switch out of service faulty apparatus, thus ensuring continuity of service without carrying out regular physical visits to the exchange. This will bring about considerable savings.
Pushbutton telephones
It is the intention to provide pushbutton telephones at all electronic exchanges. Initially the ordinary rotary dial telephone will, however, still have to be used. It will eventually be replaced when pushbutton instruments are manufactured locally. Pushbutton facilities will therefore ultimately be provided at all electronic exchanges.
Telephone services which are connected to electromechanical exchanges will, however, without exception be fitted with the well-known rotary dial telephone. Renters of this type of service will therefore not be able to acquire pushbutton instruments. The reason is that this type of pushbutton telephone cannot function on electromechanical exchanges. Furthermore, it will be uneconomic to manufacture a special pushbutton telephone for electromechanical exchanges.
Telegraph and telex services
The telex service once again reflected a healthy growth rate. At the end of December 1976 there was a total of 13 192 telex subscribers. This represents an increase of 1 292 over the preceding twelve months. It is expected that the number of telex services will total about 13 500 at the end of March 1977.
The demand for telex service remains high. This is borne out by the fact that there were still 734 outstanding applications at the end of December 1976. Every effort is being made to speed up the provision of these services.
A further 18 telegraph offices were added to the domestic automatic telegraph network during the year bringing the total to 744 at the end of December 1976.
Telephone
The international telephone service is still expanding phenomenally. During the period April to December 1976 no fewer than 2 065 000 calls were made by subscribers to overseas countries as against 1 256 000 during the same period in 1975. From April to December 1976 the number of telephone circuits increased from 578 to 670, of which 140 were satellite, 213 cable, 7 radio and 310 landline circuits. These circuits are used for telephone calls to 177 countries.
Direct telephone circuits via satellite were introduced to Austria, Greece, Israel, Japan, Malawi, Switzerland and Zambia whilst direct service via the SPADE satellite system was opened to Argentina, Iran, the Ivory Coast and Peru. Direct telephone service now exists to altogether 34 countries.
International subscriber dialling facilities were extended to a further 5 overseas countries on 22 May 1976 which means that subscribers in South Africa and South West Africa can now dial subscribers in 12 countries, namely Andorra, Belgium, Canada, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Monaco, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and West Germany direct. This facility is available in both directions.
Telegraph
During the period April to December 1976 some 563 000 telegrams were sent to foreign countries as against 707 000 during the same period of the previous year. This represents a 20% decrease; which is due mainly to the fact that the telephone and telex services are being used to a greater extent.
Telex
On 1 June 1976 subscriber-to-subscriber dialling facilities were introduced to 5 additional countries, namely Bermuda, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Swaziland and Zaire. Telex subscribers in South Africa and South West Africa can now dial direct to subscribers in 63 other countries. Apart from this, manual telex service is also available to a further 113 countries.
On 16 August 1976 a direct multi-channel telegraph system with Zambia was introduced via satellite for telex and telegraph traffic. This system is the first of its kind between South Africa and another country in Africa via satellite.
Telex service via America was introduced to ships at sea in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during September 1976. This service, known as MARISAT, is only available to ships equipped with special telex terminals. The ultimate aim is to extend the service to ships all over the world. Communication of a high quality is established with ships via two satellites specially launched for this service.
A direct multi-channel telegraph system between South Africa and Israel was taken into use on 15 October 1976.
A considerable growth rate in the field of international telex service was maintained over the past few years. The telex traffic to overseas countries has, for example, over the five years 1971-’72 to 1975-’76 more than trebled from 1,8 to 6,6 million minutes per annum. The monthly revenue obtained from overseas telex calls which exceeded the R1 million mark for the first time during March 1974, now stands at an average of R1,5 million.
To meet the continued demand, the international telex exchange in Johannesburg is being extended to double its capacity. This new equipment will be ready for operation by mid 1977 and will have the routing capacity to enable directly dialled calls to be made to a further 58 countries if and when required.
Satellite Earth Station
Apart from the telephone, telegraph and telex services which have been introduced to other countries by means of the earth station at Hartebeesthoek, 157 colour television transmissions to and from other countries were handled between January and December 1976.
The establishment of the earth station has made it possible to restore the services normally routed via the SAT-1 submarine cable via satellite in the event of a failure of the cable. The use of high frequency radio circuits on which the Post Office had to rely for restoration purposes during cable interruptions, has now been discontinued.
The Olifantsfontein and Derdepoort radio stations are nevertheless still being used to provide radio services such as telephone and telegraph services to certain African countries and Antarctica.
One of the most complex problems with which the department has to contend in its planning, is the uncertainty which is coupled with the demand for telecommunication services in Black townships.
On the one hand the necessity—also for reasons of security—of sufficient telephone facilities is realized. On the other hand the occurrence of vandalism is so commonplace in so far as public call offices are concerned, that the advantages of the facility are neutralized for all practical purposes. In addition the number of applications for private services is relatively insignificant.
The provision of the capacity to provide services (exchange buildings, manufacturing and installation of equipment and the provision of cable networks) is an expensive and time consuming process. On the one hand we cannot afford to let millions of rand lie idle or be excessively under-exploited; on the other hand we know that the continued raising of the living standard of the Black man will sooner or later lead to an explosion in the demand for services. The problem lies in the synchronization of these two elements.
The department has decided that it would be preferable rather to default in the first respect than in the last, and its planning provides for the provision of service in excess of that which the demand justifies at this stage.
In order to give hon. members an insight into the financial implications, I want to mention for example that it will cost approximately R2 million in cabling alone to provide 10 000 applicants in Soweto with telephone service whilst the cost of providing automatic exchanges to serve the same applicants is conservatively estimated at a further R6 million.
In our planning we have already made provision for inter alia the following projects in Black residential areas for the provision of automatic telephone service:
The equipment for these projects will be delivered progressively as from the 1978-’79 financial year.
The Post Office realizes the value of high productivity and apart from the development and motivation of its own workers, the rationalization of structures and the streamlining of work procedures, it is constantly engaged in studies and efforts with a view to improving production and the quality of its services.
In order to augment our own professional and other abilities and to ensure that everything possible is done to attain maximum efficiency, the National Productivity Institute has been requested to carry out an independent investigation concerning productivity in the telecommunication field in the Post Office. The preliminary work has already commenced and we trust that we will benefit from the investigation.
As a result of sustained public complaints received over the years, supported by the viewpoints of hon. members on the other side, it has been decided to prohibit altogether the levying of service fees on telephone calls.
The embargo will become effective from a date which will be published in the Government Gazette.
This step will prevent the charge of exploitation consistently being levelled at the Post Office, hotels and the like and will place the dispensation in South Africa on a par with, for example, that in the United States of America.
THE 1976-’77 FINANCIAL YEAR
In spite of the financial restraints applied and the productivity improvements achieved by the Post Office during this year, it has not been able entirely to escape the adverse effects of continued inflation with the resultant increases in the costs of labour, material and fuel. Nevertheless, these efforts, combined with a higher than expected income, have enabled the Post Office to not only balance its accounts without increasing tariffs or negotiating new loans, but even to show a small operating surplus of about R15,4 million (or 2,5%).
Expenditure
Operating expenditure for this year is estimated at R607,1 million, some R54 million or 9,8% higher than the amount originally estimated. This unavoidable increase arises mainly from:
- (a) Higher staff costs of approximately R22,5 million. A salary adjustment was granted with effect from 1 July 1976 for which provision was not made in the original estimates;
- (b) Higher than expected cost increases of nearly R4 million on stores, material and services acquired by the Post Office;
- (c) Increased out payments to overseas administrations of R10,3 million due to a higher volume of telecommunications traffic and an increased contribution to the expenses of the international telecommunication satellite system. There is, of course, a corresponding increase in revenue on this traffic, whilst, on account of the higher contribution, we get a correspondingly higher share in the satellite system and in its profits;
- (d) Higher interest payments of R8,6 million on investments in the Post Office Savings Services. Here again, Post Office revenue is higher as a result of interest earned on the investment of funds with the Treasury; and
- (e) An increase in Standard Stock capital of R8 million, mainly to meet continued steep price increases of material.
It is expected that capital expenditure will amount to R239,7 million, or R6,5 million below the original estimate of R246,2 million. This is as a result of the curtailment of expenditure in accordance with Government policy. The curbs have been applied in such a way as not to have a significant effect on the provision of infrastructural services.
For the 1976-’77 financial year operating and capital expenditure is thus expected to total R846,8 million, which will be financed from the small operating surplus, the provision for depreciation and for higher replacement costs of capital assets, and from moneys invested in Post Office Savings Services.
According to the latest estimates, revenue is expected to be about R22 million above the R600,4 million originally estimated, mainly due to increased telephone traffic. This is an encouraging sign as it reflects not only the growth in capacity of our telephone network, but also indicates better utilization of the network owing to the improved quality of service.
We expect a net increase of R184 million during this year in moneys invested by the public in the Post Office Savings Bank and National Savings Certificates. This represents 3,2% of savings investments with all financial institutions. The latest ratio of savings investments with (a) the Post Office, (b) Building Societies and (c) Commercial Banks and other banking institutions is 3,2%, 36,3% and 60,5% respectively; ten years ago it was 5,4%, 39,1% and 55,5%.
Owing to the increase in operating expenditure, the percentage of capital expenditure which will be financed from loan funds will increase to 62% which is substantially above the ratio of 50% from loan funds and 50% from own funds which the Government has laid down as a guide-line.
In the department’s view, it would be unsound to allow the accepted ratio to be drastically disturbed for too lengthy a period.
I subsequently come to the new financial year. For 1977-’78 the operating expenditure is estimated at R652,4 million, which is R45,2 million or 7,5% more than that for the present financial year.
This is regarded as very satisfactory taking into account the present rate of inflation and also the fact that the general salary adjustment with effect from 1 July 1976 will be in force for a full year, as against nine months for 1976-’77.
Capital expenditure is estimated at R264,6 million, an increase of R24,8 million or 10,4% over the figure for the current financial year.
In real terms—that is at 1976-’77 price levels—the level of capital spending will be about the same as for the current financial year.
Our revenue estimate for the next financial year is R679,4 million. This is 9% higher than in 1976-’77 and is mainly attributable to growth in telecommunications services and traffic. After deducting operating expenditure, this leaves a small surplus of R27 million (4,1%).
We propose financing the expected capital expenditure of R264,6 million from—
- (a) The operating surplus of R27 million;
- (b) The provision of R89,1 million made in our operating expenditure for depreciation and higher replacement costs of capital assets;
- (c) Loan funds of R120 million which are expected to become available from the Post Office Savings Bank and National Savings Certificates; and
- (d) R28,5 million from the realization of short-term investments.
It is expected that during the next financial year, 56% of the capital expenditure will be financed from loan funds—thus a decrease of 6% compared to the current financial year.
I have not yet said anything on the subject of tariff increases. But like a doctor with good bedside manners I first had to build up the confidence of hon. members before administering the cure for the malady.
I have earlier mentioned the relatively small operating surplus available for financing capital expenditure. This must be seen against the background of the considerable deficit expected to be suffered next year of almost R37 million on the operation of postal services, of R1,5 million on remittance services and of over R10 million on the public telegram service.
Hon. members will agree with me that such relatively large losses cannot be suffered indefinitely. It is also desirable, as mentioned earlier, that there should be a reasonable correlation between the cost of a service and the price paid for it.
As indicated, the Post Office has succeeded in reducing the loan portion of its proposed financing from 62% to 56%. However, it is quite possible that price escalation and other unforeseen expenditure could push it up again—to what extent cannot be predicted at this point in time.
In spite of the relative sparseness of the South African population and its geographical spread which makes rendering of services expensive, we have one of the lowest tariff structures in the world. It is my experience that post office staff are proud of this and, in the national interest, do all they can to keep it that way. For this we can be grateful.
Taking everything into consideration, it is not the intention to increase tariffs low or within the next few months. It is, however, unlikely that increases can be avoided indefinitely. The determining factors will be the growth in expenditure and in revenue. As was done in recent years, an effort will be made to give the public advance notice of increases, in order that all concerned can timeously make the necessary adjustments.
I should nevertheless like to give hon. members the assurance that increases would not be introduced before they became unavoidable.
I should like to conclude by expressing to the Management and Staff of the Post Office my appreciation for their devoted services during the past year.
I now lay upon the Table—
Mr. Speaker, the hon. the Minister has introduced a budget of operating expenditure amounting to R652 million, which is an increase over last year of about 7,4%—the hon. the Minister said 7,5%. When one compares this with the increase for 1976-’77 over 1975-’76 and sees that the increase then amounted to 11%, it looks as if the hon. the Minister has tried to contain his expenditure this year, rather than overspend. The increases of moment are salaries and pensions, which are, roughly, about 10% higher than last year, and transport costs. We all know why transport is going to cost the Post Office considerably more—because the price of fuel, oil, tyres and what not, have all been increased. However, one of the largest increases in the budget is the increased payment of interest in respect of investments made with the Savings Bank and in national savings certificates of the Post Office. This amount is round about R18 million.
These increases are generally offset in the budget by a decrease in the redemption of loans, a decrease amounting to R18 million. The reason for this is that more and more of the loan capital for the Post Office is being generated internally, which is a very good thing and something which we on this side of the House have been pleading for many years. I am very glad to see that at long last it is bearing fruit and that the hon. the Minister has come to realize that what is now being done, should have been done many years ago.
Another item which offsets the increases is the decrease in standard stock capital, decrease of R6 million. It is quite significant that whereas in the additional appropriation we had an increase of standard stock capital, now in the main budget we have a decrease. I do not think we have had a satisfactory explanation for this. I trust the hon. the Minister will make a note of this and when he replies to the Second Reading tell us just why we have had an increase of standard stock capital in the additional appropriation, but a decrease in the main appropriation.
Apart from the items of increases mentioned by me just now, the rest of the increase merely reflects increasing costs, which one expects with a double figure inflation rate under which this poor country still has to suffer. I do not want to blame the hon. the Minister for this. I do not think he is entirely responsible for this double figure inflation rate, but his colleagues are. He should talk to them quite severely about this, because this is what is increasing the costs of the Post Office considerably.
In so far as capital expenditure is concerned, the amount for the coming financial year is going to be R264 million, an increase over the present financial year of 10,4%. If one compares the increase in capital expenditure for the current financial year over the previous financial year, one finds that that increase has been only 7,4%. So, this is quite a substantial increase, notwithstanding the fact that the hon. the Minister says he is trying his best to spend far less than he would have had to spend. When one has a look at the sources for the financing of capital expenditure—which the hon. the Minister has mentioned in his speech—one finds that the proportion that is now being contributed from revenue, the surplus of operating, is R27 million, which is considerably less than the amount contributed by the same source during the present financial year, viz. R47 million. The total contribution from revenue for the coming financial year amounts to R116 million compared with the R123 million for the current financial year. The loan funds which are contributed by the national savings certificates and savings bank have sharply increased, from R116,4 million for 1976-’77 to R148,5 million for 1977-’78. This again bears out how good the advice has been which the UP gave the hon. the Minister and his predecessors as to how they should finance the Post Office capital works. [Interjections.] I am so sorry that the hon. Minister of Water Affairs does not agree with me. I think that if he applied some UP policy in the Department of Water Affairs he would be able to present a finer picture of his department in the Central Government’s budget this year. There is no reason at all why in future loan funds originating from the savings department, including national savings certificates, cannot be employed to a far greater extent. The hon. the Minister has said that he is in fact employing them to a greater extent this year, and we are very grateful for that. We believe, however, that they can be employed to a still greater extent. We believe that the hon. the Minister can employ these funds to such an extent that it will no longer be necessary to ask for a contribution from the operating surplus in order to pay for capital works. If that is the case there will be no contributions from operating surplus to capital works and when that happens we shall be able to satisfy the public still further by lowering the tariffs for what they are now getting or by giving them higher standards of service for the same tariffs.
I think we must admit that the tariffs which the public are paying at present are really not commensurate with the service which they are getting, despite the fact that the hon. the Minister says that the tariffs which we employ are amongst the lowest in the world. I think I ought to mention that the hon. the Minister says this because there are very few countries in the world where the Post Office conducts telecommunications as well as postal services. Most countries in the world do not conduct telecommunication services and, as the hon. the Minister said earlier, private enterprise always wants to have that part of the Post Office work which is highly productive and profitable. In most other countries of the world telecommunications is not a postal function. It is put out to private enterprise, and that is why the tariffs for the postal part of the work are probably higher than what they are here, excepting in those countries where the treasury subsidizes those costs, which is not the case here.
We on this side of the House still feel that when the hon. the Minister budgets, he asks himself the following question: “To what extent can services be provided with the given resources that I have or with the revenue which I expect, by using the current tariff policy and the present policy of funding capital from revenue?” I think that is the way in which the hon. the Minister budgets and I believe it is not the correct way to budget. It is not the first time I have said this; I have said it on many other occasions. Perhaps through repetition it may eventually have an impact on the hon. the Minister and perhaps he may take cognizance of it next year. I believe that far greater importance is being attached by the hon. the Minister to the profitability of the undertaking of the Post Office to the detriment of giving a complete service to the public. I believe the word “complete” must be underlined, because we know that a service is being given to the public and we know that in certain parts of the country the service is being given well, while in certain other parts it is given badly. Generally, however, it is not a service which the hon. the Minister can be proud of, because I am sure he can do a lot better. While the hon. the Minister believes in profitability being the criterion, I think he will never ever be able to supply a complete service to the public. To illustrate this point one should look at a few figures in regard to the money order offices that were in existence in 1974-’75 as against those that were in existence in 1975-’76, which appear in the report of the Postmaster-General. In 1974-’75 there were 1 771 money order offices, but in the next year they had been reduced to 1 735, which is 36 less. If one looks at the postal agencies, there were 1 166 in the year 1974-’75, while in the following year there were only 1 022. These figures probably do not hold good for today, because there have probably been other changes as well. I believe quite a few more have been closed during the current year and that the figure today might well be a lot lower than the one I have here.
It does illustrate my point that because these offices were not profitable, they were closed. What happened after they were closed, was that the people who were served by those post offices no longer had that service. One can go right through all the operations of the Post Office and it boils down to the fact that there is only one place to do business with the public and that is in a post office. One cannot do so anywhere else and a complete post office network which covers the entire country is absolutely essential. This is a matter to which the hon. the Minister should give a great deal of attention. I feel that the hon. the Minister forgets that even as an economic undertaking, as the Post Office is, the Post Office functions within the national economy, and functioning within the national economy, it is there to serve national purposes. It is most important that the hon. the Minister should not lose sight of that fact. It is very simple to say: “I would like to see a profit” or: “I would like to see a surplus.” When one likes to see that, one obviously has to curtail operations or one is not going to improve the services that one is rendering. What the hon. the Minister should really bear in mind is that he has an obligation to provide services in certain areas at less than cost. This must always be foremost in his mind and he must know that that is his duty. The cost factor and the fact that he is not going to make a profit, but instead a large loss—and he has repeatedly said in his speech today that he has suffered a large loss on postal services—should not be the only criterion. I believe that the hon. the Minister’s main task is to satisfy the needs of users of the service as effectively as possible and continually to improve the quality of the service. I do not know whether the hon. the Minister is giving enough attention to that. The hon. the Minister should not, and I repeat not, try to increase profit at all costs. He should rather try to improve quality and make a real contribution to the economic and social development of the country. That is, I think, one of the prime motives of the Post Office. I know that postal officials, as the hon. the Minister said earlier, are imbued with this very high ideal and I know that they try to do it to the best of their ability. However, they cannot go very far if they have a Minister who does not believe in the ideal himself. I think he should try to see whether he cannot, in the next year or so, also believe in that same ideal.
A very simple method which the hon. the Minister can follow when he draws up the budget—as he should have done on this occasion—is to have a certain measurement or criterion against which he can see whether he is providing enough money for running the Post Office properly. One of the matters I have mentioned in this regard already, is the question of the provision of a post office network. That post office network should be developed every year and should not be curtailed. The hon. the Minister has been curtailing the network instead of developing it. That is one of the first principles which I think he should apply when he has budget proposals before him. One of the first questions he should ask is: “If I adopt this budget am I going to improve and enlarge and expand the existing network?” When he has answered that question satisfactorily he must weigh up the urban development of the network with the rural development of the network. Unless the hon. the Minister can provide the same sort of service in the rural areas as he can in the urban areas, he is falling down on the job.
The next criterion is the hours between which users can benefit from the facilities. It is a very important norm and while I am on the subject, the hon. the Minister must remember that I mentioned to him during the debate on the additional appropriation the fact that he proposed to close down certain post offices on Saturdays. I said then that while we had every sympathy with the staff and we would like them also to have a Saturday off as often as they could, we believed that this would be a retrograde step because it would mean that we would be denying services to post office users at a time when most of them can go to the post office.
Another criterion which I do not think the hon. the Minister has referred to at all in his speech is the question of the time taken to convey and deliver mail throughout the country and also the time taken to convey and deliver mail in certain areas where there are the difficulties in transport to which the hon. the Minister referred in his speech. I think this can be greatly improved. We have already heard that in so far as ordinary post for the men on the border is concerned, it has improved. I say that if it can improve—I think it is now down to 4*6 days—I really do not see why it cannot be improved to two days. I am pretty certain that if the hon. the Minister puts his heart and soul into it, he can do it. I am sure he can do it.
The next point I would like the hon. the Minister to take into consideration when he prepares a budget is the times and frequency of mail delivery. It is very important to know how many times per day and at what times of the day mail is going to be delivered and how we are going to satisfy the complete needs of the public. We have not heard anything about this. I believe the hon. the Minister is soft-pedalling on all matters that really need a lot of attention. The hon. the Minister is just putting these on one side; he is not bothering about it. I would like him to really get stuck into it. I would like him to spend most of his time when he replies to this debate, in dealing with how he is going to improve these services that I have been speaking about.
There are also the times and frequency of collections from posting boxes. I think this is a most important norm and the hon. the Minister should tell us all about it. I remember he mentioned to us, a year or so ago, that it was not a profitable proposition to collect mail more often than once a day. I am, however, certain that there are areas where it can be collected more often than once a day and where distribution can take place far quicker than is the case at the moment.
When the hon. the Minister draws up his budget, he should also have a look at rate fixing policies. The Minister must bear in mind that there are three types of rates that he has to have. This goes for postal mail. He must accept for a fact that there are going to be services which he is going to render below cost, and for those cases, obviously, he must be subsidized. The Minister in his speech today said that he was going to be subsidized by the telecommunication service. His doing so is better than nothing. What is, however, far better than milking the telecommunication service is to put up a very good memorandum to the Treasury suggesting that the time has now arrived where the Post Office should be subsidized, that this service which is rendered below cost should be subsidized by the Treasury. As I have said once before, the simplest way for the Treasury to do this is for the Minister to persuade the Treasury not to ask for what is known as a dividend. I see that they have given it a different name this year; they have called it “interest”, interest on permanent capital, which amounts to over R11 million per annum. That will help the Minister to render these services below cost.
There are also the services which have a sufficient cost cover, but these should not give us any trouble at all.
Thirdly there are the services introduced with a specified financial return at the back of them. In other words, he knows, when he introduces such a service, that he is going to make a profit out of it.
We now come to the hon. the Minister’s budget speech. The Minister was almost apologetic when he started dealing with the budgetary proposals. He called it “’n finansiële onderverdeling”. I make bold to say that the most important information that we want to have here today is what the financial aspects of the budget are. After all, a budget is a financial matter, and we would therefore like to know what the financial aspects are. The other surveys are very interesting, but it still does not tell us what the budgetary proposals are. I cannot imagine how one can say that the budgetary proposals are “’n finansiële onderverdeling” of what is taking place. It is the most important part of the speech.
Having gone through the speech word for word, I am very surprised at the Minister’s secrecy. This is the first occasion on record, since the Post Office has been an entity on its own and since the accounting procedures of the Post Office are completely separate from any other Government department, that the budget is being introduced and the main Opposition speaker and other members are expected to react to it immediately.
I must admit that some of these figures are quite difficult to follow. They did give me quite a lot of trouble. I do not say that it was impossible to follow them, but I think, as a matter of courtesy, we could at least have adjourned the debate or the hon. the Minister could have said: “There is nothing secret in my budget—you can have a look at it. ’ ’ What did he in fact do? He played it so close to the chest that I could not get in between him and the budget figures. Now what do we find? The hon. the Minister has come here with a speech full of figures and expects me to react to them immediately. I thought to myself: Why is the Minister being so secretive? He has already given an undertaking …
I suppose you have to read The Cape Times first to see what you should say.
Last year when we wanted the Post Office Act amended to the effect that the Minister should give notice of tariff increases, he said: “I do not want it in the Act, but I want to give you the solemn assurance that I will not increase tariffs without giving due notice.” When we asked: “What is due notice?”, he said: “We shall try for three months.” Therefore I knew he could not increase the tariffs since he did not give the public three months’ notice. That is why I should like to know why the hon. the Minister was so secretive. What on earth was he so secretive for? Did he have some other motive that I cannot think of, or what was it all about?
That is rubbish. You know it is not up to the hon. the Minister.
What is rubbish? Of course it is up to the hon. the Minister. He could have given me the speech if he had wanted to. I should like to draw the attention of the hon. member for Rustenburg to the fact that, when the hon. the Minister eventually sent me the speech, which he very kindly did two minutes after he had started speaking thus giving me quite a lot of time to consider it before he made his speech, I saw at the bottom of the speech the words—
That is normal procedure with all budgets.
I should like to know why the Press and the SABC are more important than a member of this House. [Interjections.] The hon. member for Rustenburg is welcome to enter the debate and to tell me why the Press and the SABC are so important that it must be given to them while it cannot be given to me.
What time did he get it?
After all, the Press need not make a speech. I am the one who has to make a speech. This being so, why can’t I get it?
I do not think the Minister had it either. I think he only got it just before he started.
That may also be, of course. I found it strange to receive a message in which I was told: “No, I am awfully sorry, but you can only have the speech this afternoon.” I then asked: “What about the adjournment?” To that I got the following reply: “The question of an adjournment is arranged by the Leader of the House.” Then I asked: “What about the Minister? Does he not talk to the Leader of the House?” I was told: “It does not matter whether the Leader of the House talks to the Minister in connection with the arrangement that the debate cannot be adjourned this afternoon.”
The Minister insisted that I could not have the speech. I want to ask with tears in my eyes: What is there in this speech that had to be kept secret? It contains absolutely nothing that had to be kept secret. One could have worked out for oneself all that it contains. Fortunately I was able to consult my colleagues on this side of the House. We worked out what the contents of the speech would probably be. The speech that was made this afternoon contained nothing we could not have guessed in advance.
If that is so, what is your complaint?
We guessed correctly.
Because you cannot find any fault with the budget, you are now falling back on these trivialities.
The hon. member for Aliwal will not gain anything from interjecting. He knows that the Minister is wrong. He can go and speak to the Minister himself. He need not be noisy now.
†Mr. Speaker, in conclusion I want to say that I did find it a little difficult to deal effectively with the budget as the information only became available to me a few minutes before its delivery. Although in the circumstances it has not been too onerous, I should just like the hon. the Minister to remember that if we are going to do this sort of thing in future because the hon. the Leader of the House wants it done this way, I think he could at least get in touch with me before the time and ask whether we can do it in this way. I could then at least tell him what my difficulties are. We would get on a lot better if we could do it in that way.
In so far as the other matters to which the hon. the Minister referred are concerned, other speakers on this side of the House will deal with them. I would merely like to say in conclusion that I believe that the time has arrived for the hon. the Minister to give urgent consideration to labour intensive operations in the Post Office. These labour intensive operations are very appropriate at this stage in view of the fact that there is quite a lot of unemployment. I would suggest that the hon. the Minister applies labour intensive operations wherever possible, for instance in the sorting, distribution and collection of mail. Then we would have a far better system than we have at present. Sir, although the budget is better than it was last year, I believe there is still much room for improvement. I therefore move as an amendment—
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Wynberg has just moved an amendment. This is surprising because he did say that this was an outstanding budget. In the course of my speech I shall refer to a few of the things which he referred to. Towards the end of his speech he asked that people be employed so that post could be sorted by hand. We should therefore not mechanize. That is the greatest nonsense I have ever heard, because the costs of post offices the world over are sky-rocketing due to the labour-intensive system. Does that hon. member not realize that between 70% and 80% of the mail is handled manually? The only solution by means of which to place the Post Office on a profitable basis is, therefore,
to mechanize. I shall have more to say about this later. The hon. member made a big fuss about the fact that the hon. the Minister should give the hon. member his speech two or three days before the time. I have never before heard an hon. member admit so frankly that he was incapable of and unqualified to evaluate a budget as he listened to it. The hon. member is out of his depth; the whole matter is beyond him. I do not wish to quarrel with him on that score. No-one should maintain that I can fly an aircraft, because I cannot. That hon. member is equally incapable of criticizing a financial budget without preparation.
The hon. member said that the Treasury should be approached to subsidize the Post Office. At the moment the Post Office is being run as an economic unit; in other words it is autonomous. It has to be run like a business enterprise. If the State were to further subsidize the services rendered by the Post Office, where would that money have to come from? Must the farmers and the other sectors of the private sector which have nothing to do with the Post Office, subsidize those services? The tax must come from the pocket of the person who makes use of the services of the Post Office. After all, who else should be taxed? Should a direct tax be levied on people in the higher income group? Where, then, should that tax be imposed? I believe that the hon. member has encountered problems. However, he must go and quarrel with his own Whips. It is not the fault of the hon. the Minister that the debate is proceeded with immediately.
The hon. the Minister has nothing to do with arranging the business of the House. The hon. the Minister merely introduces his budget. The hon. the Leader of the House and hon. Whips of the various parties determine whether the debate is to be proceeded with today or whether it is to be postponed until tomorrow. In this case the guilty parties are the hon. Whips of the Opposition parties. Whips of the NP are concerned, I am sure that they have the fullest confidence in all their speakers. One speaker after the other on the Government side can stand up and evaluate this budget without having looked at it in advance. [Interjections.] However, what is the situation as regards hon. members of the Opposition? Mr. Speaker, I myself shall plead that the hon. member for Wynberg should get a copy of the hon. Minister’s budget speech at least a day or so before the start of the debate, so that he can at least speak a little more meaningfully, and does not have to utter such contradictions as he did today. [Interjections.]
I should just like to congratulate the hon. the Minister on this budget. My congratulations are not on behalf of hon. members on this side of the House alone. I am sure that I am speaking on behalf of the whole of South Africa when I congratulate the hon. the Minister. The hon. the Minister has introduced a fine budget here today, particularly in view of the difficult economic circumstances, not only in South Africa, but throughout the world. In the Railway budget, rates had to be increased. Due to the sound financial policy adopted in recent years by the hon. the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications and his department, the hon. the Minister was able to introduce his budget here today without announcing any rates increases.
This brings me, then, to the Postmaster-General and his staff. I want to pay tribute to them today and thank them for this year’s annual report. If I were a schoolboy and I entered a toy shop, I would have had a wonderful time if I was told to play with everything in the shop. The same applies to any financial expert reading this annual report of the Department. It is so easy to speak on this basis of this annual report that it gladdens one’s heart. In this report there are at least 37 tables, and one could make at least one or two speeches on each of them in this House, so complete is the information contained in these tables. There is not a single aspect of the Post Office that is not dealt with in full in this annual report. When one serves on the board of directors of a large company, one is given certain figures and statistics to enable one to carry out investigations at managerial level to find out what is going on. In this report we have something similar, something which is on a high level and which is top rate. In this annual report the department furnishes us with all the necessary data so that each of us can have insight into the way the Post Office is run at managerial level. We are sincerely grateful to the Postmaster-General and his entire staff for this. Our sincere thanks, too, to the hon. the Minister for having discussed staff first of all. No body or enterprise can run its affairs effectively without a good staff. The Post Office has trained and motivated its staff well over the years. They are people who like to give service. The two hours of overtime which the Post Office staff have worked every day without remuneration comes to at least four million working hours over the past few years. After all, these things are praiseworthy.
One can enter any post office anywhere and see how diligently and with what a pleasant, friendly and helpful spirit the staff of the Post Office carry out their duties. I have in mind for example the young ladies on the telephone exchange here in Parliament in Cape Town. Just think how helpful they are and what a wonderful service they give members. They do not ask whether one is a United Party supporter or a Nationalist. They say: “Sir, I have a task to perform and I do it.” For this, too, we pay them tribute. One comes across that friendliness and helpfulness everywhere. Not only here but even at a small place like Northam in the Transvaal countryside. Whenever one wants a call put through from a party line there, it is done smartly and without delay. The staff are friendly and cheerful and do their work in such a way that one really feels that one does not want to walk to one’s kraal; one wants to jog there. [Interjections.] Northam is in the constituency of the hon. member for Rustenburg. What I have been saying about that small town, applies to all other places in South Africa. I deal with more than one post office. And that is not to mention the staff of urban post offices.
I think it is as well, too, that I should refer to the Staff Management Board of the Post Office. The board consists of the Postmaster-General and four of his deputies. They, too, provide an outstanding service. They are not just there to investigate matters of a petty nature, they are strict, too, and discipline is enforced. A member of the Post Office staff does not get away with murder. Their interests, training and education, too, are seen to in all respects. I think it is high time for us to thank the four Post Office associations—the Post and Telegraph Association of South Africa, which looks after the clerks and the administrative and counter staff, the S.A. Telecommunications Association, which looks after the operators and technicians, the South African Postal Association, which looks after the postmen, and then the Post Office Engineers’ Association. The four staff associations play their role behind the scenes. They are not a group of agitators, nor do they incite people, but they see to it that the staff are happy and that their interests are looked after. In this way they render a good service to South Africa. They work behind the scenes and hon. members are not always aware of them, but if hon. members read the annual report they will see what good work is done by these associations. I think it is as well that we should think of them, too, today.
I want to discuss posts briefly. Posts is one of the sections which showed a loss. On 1 April last year the rates were reduced despite difficult circumstances, and a uniform rate of 4 cents for surface mail and airmail has been laid down. This has resulted in the post being delivered far more rapidly. Instead of the letter taking two or three days to be conveyed by train, it is now in Pretoria within half a day. I have posted a letter in Cape Town in the morning which has been read in Pretoria that very evening. After all, that is service. The letter was conveyed over a distance of 1 000 miles and we cannot complain about this service.
One of the biggest problems experienced by our officials is to deliver mail in the cities at all the houses, flats and so on. Some of the people in the residential areas do not have letterboxes. The letterbox is so placed that if the postman goes in to deliver the mail to the house, the dog bites him. At many blocks of flats the postman cannot deliver the mail. All new buildings occupied with effect from 1 January 1977, must have a place at or near the entrance where the mail can be delivered. I am grateful for this and the Post Office should have made an arrangement of this kind a long time ago. We should rather say that we were too late in taking this step to get the private sector to play its part as well.
As far as mail sorting is concerned, the hon. member said that we should now do it manually. In Johannesburg we have one of the most complex computer-controlled mail sorting systems in the world. The system did cost R6,3 million, but it sorts between 90 000 and 150 000 articles of mail per hour. This only depends on how fast the 30 members of staff can code the articles of mail. How many dozen people does one need if the sorting has to be done manually? This would cause tremendous delay. In Cape Town there is a similar machine and hon. members of the Post Office group have been to look at it. It is a pleasure, it is gratifying, it is good to see how ably the people acquit themselves of their task and how rapidly the post is sorted. In the middle of May this year the Durban sorting system will be taken into service. Good work is being done in this respect.
However, the postal services showed a major deficit. If we look at the deficits over the past five years, we see that in 1971-’72 the deficit was R4,9 million. The following year it was R5,58 million; in 1974 it was R4,28 million; in 1975 it shot up to R12,4 million and this year it amounts to R14,49 million. We know that post offices throughout the world are showing losses in their mail delivery departments. However, telecommunications cannot subsidize this sector permanently, and we should be even less justified in expecting the State to subsidize the postal services to make up this deficit. The services rendered by the Post Office are outstanding. They are excellent. Every man and woman who uses the Post Office ought to pay a little extra for doing so.
How can we improve these things? The hon. the Minister has already spelt this out for us. We must make better use of labour. In the course of his speech we heard that people had been sent overseas. We heard many other things, too. This is very good. This is one of the methods we can adopt to improve the services. In the United Kingdom they ascertained that it took 12 pairs of hands to receive one letter at one place and deliver it at another. This just shows how much manpower is lost if everything is done manually. This loss of manpower can be eliminated by mechanization. I appeal for more mechanization—but not in the way that that hon. member wants it done. The Post Office is not a welfare organization. We must be productive and ensure that we are economical. That is why it is best to mechanize. If all this has been to no avail I want to ask the hon. the Minister clearly and frankly whether the time has not come for us to consider tariff increases. I want to make a forceful appeal for the mail tariffs of the Post Office to be increased so that one has to pay 5 cents instead of 4 cents for a stamp. We in this House are all responsible for the management of our Post Office in South Africa. I want to give that advice to the hon. the Minister. I have gone through the figures and have considered what can be done. With that one cent increase we can collect an additional amount of about R10 million per annum.
I am glad you are not the Minister.
I think that newspapers and printed matter could perhaps make a small contribution. Then the Post Office deficit will not be so large. I do not want to be subsidized with regard to such services, particularly such outstanding services as those provided by the Post Office. Furthermore, if this were to happen it would no longer be possible to complain that too little money was available to the Post Office. Emerson said: “Good manners consist of small sacrifices.” Let us in South Africa make the small sacrifices by paying a cent more for these good services.
R10 million?
R10 million. I should like to hear what the hon. the Minister says in that regard, namely whether he can do so.
How does South Africa compare with overseas countries as far as the postal system is concerned? The hon. the Minister has already pointed this out. I want to remind hon. members that in the United Kingdom after the Second World War, there were seven or eight deliveries per day. A year or two ago it was reduced to two deliveries and I think that now there is only one per day. More deliveries per day simply cannot be made. One delivery per day, brisk, timely, regular and correct, as carried out by our Post Office, is quite adequate in my opinion. In the course of 17 years the tariffs in England have risen by 720%. This is twice as much as the increase in the cost of living. There are other States, too, that have suffered tremendous deficits. Last year, for example, the German Post Office had a deficit of $1 billion and that of the United Kingdom, $600 million. I could continue in this vein. I do not think we should flinch from acting responsibly by increasing the tariffs. I can substantiate my case in this regard.
I do not want to reproach the hon. the Minister and, like the hon. member, ask that all capital works be financed from loans. Has the hon. member not done his homework? In this budget, the burden of interest alone amounts to R91,914 million per annum. This is R17,996 million more than in the previous year. If we wanted to leave everything to our descendants, we would not even be able to do so, because before then we would have expired under the burden of interest. Why should all capital works be financed from loans, causing the burden of interest to accumulate? That hon. member must now tell me on what scientific grounds he can justify this. Whereas the Franzsen Commission adopted a scientific approach and spoke about a ratio of 50:50, in my opinion the hon. member has yet to make a case by showing in what respect they were wrong. It simply does not want to spend any more at this point. The hon. member must give us his facts and furnish scientific proof, so that we may consider the matter.
I want to go on and discuss telephones. What is the cost of installing a telephone in South Africa?
R30.
R30. Surely that is not too much. Just consider what it costs to have a telephone installed in Paris today. I want to quote from the February 1977 edition of Tekens van die Tye with regard to the installation fees in Paris. The following is stated—
That is the situation overseas. After all, in comparison our installation fees of R30 are not high, particularly in view of what it really costs to install a telephone today. The telephone staff of the Post Office are doing outstanding work. We need not argue on that score.
As far as buildings are concerned, I should like to say a few words about the new main post office and the new administrative office in Pretoria. In the original budget R16 million was voted, but I see that this has now been increased to R25 million. I do not know exactly what the extra money is being voted for, but that is not what I want to argue about. For the past year, R556 000 has been voted. I do not know what this involves, and I should be obliged if the hon. the Minister can explain to us what this money is to be spent on. All of us know that over the past year there has been a great deal of agitation and argument concerning the new post office which the people do not want at the cost of the demolition of the western façade of Kerkplein. In this regard I want to quote from the statement made by the hon. the Minister of Public Works on 19 January 1977. He said—
He is referring to negotiations which took place—
- (a) die oprigting van ’n nuwe uitvoerende poskantoor en streekhoofkantoor op die terrein begrens deur Kerkstraat aan die suidekant, die Kerkplein en Paleislaan aan die oostekant, Vermeulenstraat aan die noordekant en die sentrale Goewermentsgebou aan die westekant.
- (b) Die sloping van alle bestaande geboue op die vermelde terrein. Die voorgestelde nuwe gebou sal ongeveer 27 meter hoog wees en die ontwerp, vir soverre dit skaal, vorm en afwerking betref, is daarop gemik om die nuwe gebou met die bestaande geboue in die omgewing te integreer.
This gave rise to a great deal of dissatisfaction among the people. The public harass one—all hon. members for Pretoria will attest to this—and say that this must not be done. They do not want the status quo in Kerkplein to be altered. I wonder whether the hon. Minister could give an indication as to who is serving on the Kerkplein Committee and whether all factors have been taken into account. The report in Rapport of 27 February entitled “Jong Tukkie takel Kerkplein”, has also been brought to my attention. The person concerned is a young lady, Miss Engela Kotzé, who apparently worked for a year on some master’s degree to ascertain what the state of affairs was as far as Kerkplein was concerned. I want to quote two important aspects in particular—
If that is the case, there was a wastage of office space. She goes on to make this appeal—
I do not want people to maintain that there are buildings in the Public Sector that have not been properly planned. In my opinion this young lady has put forward a few sound ideas. For example, she says that the old post office could be used as a tourist hotel. We must try not to allow the central part of Pretoria—Kerkplein and its surrounds—to be drained, particularly for the sake of the businesses established there. We should rather try to make it a major centre of attraction.
I also want to refer briefly to the financing of the capital works. The hon. member had a great deal to say about that, but I want to advocate the maintenance of the 50:50 pattern in this regard. The borrowed funds, expressed as a percentage of capital expenditure over the past five years, have amounted to 47%, 67%, 49%, 58% and 47%. In one year it will be a little more and in the next, a little less. In spite of what the hon. member for Wynberg asked, I do want to advocate that the hon. the Minister should continue—even if it should be by way of tariff increases—to ensure that the ratio remains just as it is.
I also want to discuss telegrams. The present tariff for telegrams is 30 cents for the first ten words, and three cents for every word thereafter. I have just asked for a tariff increase, but in this case I want to ask for a reduction in the tariff. We have priced the telegram out of the market. There has been a tremendous drop in revenue from telegrams and the hon. the Minister would do well to consider adjusting the tariff so that the first 15 words will cost 30 cents and every subsequent word three cents. This would afford major relief for everyone in the country and I think it would result in an immediate loss of between R2 million and R3 million. However, due to a bigger turnover, we shall find that the revenue will increase again and former years’ revenue will remain unchanged. It would be as well, since I am asking for an increase, that we should have a reduction, too, because this would result in a greater degree of equilibrium in the Post Office budget. If we take with the one hand, we should give with the other, and this would be far better and would also be in the interests of South Africa, because it would have beneficial results.
Mr. Speaker, you know that Pretoria is a beautiful city and another beautiful thing is to be added to it, namely a microwave tower. [Interjections.] The microwave tower is going to be built on Lucasrand. The structure is quite a big one, because its total height is about 187 metres. The tower itself will be 157 metres high and the steel mast above it will be a further 30 metres high. As hon. members know, the tower is being built to afford better accommodation for our telecommunications equipment. However, with reference to the budget, I want the hon. the Minister to tell us when the work will be started there and when the tower will be completed. I do not want to ask for a cafe on the tower, but I do want to ask that the tower should have an observation point for the public. I should like to invite all the members of the UP to come with me to view a fine constituency, namely Sunnyside, and the rest of Pretoria as well. However, I want to ask that adequate parking be provided so that if the people want to take a drive on a Sunday or on any other afternoon, they can park their cars there to see how beautiful Pretoria is from above.
In conclusion I want to say something about savings. The Post Office has acquired the right to utilize the funds of the Post Office Savings Bank for its own purposes. Over the past few years there have been complaints that the Post Office attracts money that is due to other bodies. In 1966 the Post Office had 5,4% of the total investments and last year, on 30 September, the figure was 3,2%. The Post Office has therefore relinquished many investments; the charge made against it, to the effect that it supposedly robbed other financial institutions such as building societies, commercial banks, general banks and savings banks of their money, is therefore untrue. For example, the investments in the general banks have increased from 10,6% to 15%. Converted into cash value, this represents an increase from R478 million to R2 533 million, whereas the Post Office has a mere R537,4 million in investments. I should therefore like to stress that the Post Office has not taken the money due to the other bodies.
However, I want to come back to the annual report. Apart from all the data and information provided therein, I also want to express my thanks and appreciation for one small table which the Postmaster General has inserted, viz. “Funds: Source and application.” Anyone trained in accounting will know exactly, or to a large extent, what has been going on in the company as far as the flow of funds is concerned if he has the table of “Source and application of funds” before him. Since the growth of funds and financing is a matter of major importance, I am very pleased that this management technique is reflected in the tables. I cannot recommend anything more which ought to be included in the tables, because they are perfect. I sincerely thank the hon. the Minister and the Post Office for a fine budget, and I congratulate them on it. South Africa will sleep well tonight.
Mr. Speaker, one has not really had an opportunity to reflect upon the implications of this budget and I do not blame the Minister for this so much as those who arrange the business of the House. I believe that it is very inconsiderate, to put it at its mildest, and that it is also very inefficient to arrange matters in such a way that people are expected to react immediately to a statement such as the one made by the hon. the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications this afternoon. I hope that this will not happen again. In past years we have been given an opportunity of at least 24 hours in which to reflect upon the hon. the Minister’s statement. However, even without that opportunity, there are one or two things that are obvious. One of the most obvious is that it will not be long before we have further tariff increases. In fact, the hon. member for Sunnyside, who has just resumed his seat, has already paved the way by suggesting his own R10 million contribution to tariff increases. I hope that the voters of Sunnyside will be gratified with that. It is inevitable, for one reason, amongst others, and that is that it seems very unlikely that the hon. the Minister is going to be able to resist wage and salary increases during the course of this year. This is certainly going to create a situation in which he will inevitably have to increase the tariffs. Nevertheless, one has learnt to be grateful for small mercies, however temporary they may be. As long as we remember that they will be very temporary and that the mercies will be short-lived, we can look at it in that light.
I do not think that there is any range of Government activity which impinges more directly or more frequently on the lives of people than that of the Department of Posts and Telecommunications. There is a whole list of things, for example, telephones, letters, telegrams, parcels and stamps, amongst other things, that one encounters almost every day and which inevitably affects every one of us personally at some stage. That is why I think it is important to understand that the activities of the Post Office are so intense and personal that criticism of these services simply has to be severe. It does not matter that the postal services at Christmas time are able to handle 20 or 30 times the amount of mail that they do at other times, which is a staggering achievement, because all that is forgotten when one or two parcels or letters go astray. It does not matter that the post office engineers were able to reduce the waiting list for telephones from well over 100 000 to just over, I think, 81 000 by the end of September last year. A large number of new telephones, namely 131 000, was added to the network which, I think, the Postmaster-General said, constituted an all-time record, of which the department can justifiably be proud.
It does not really help to draw attention to the fact that for the first time since the Post Office became independent, no financial support from the Treasury has been required, or that on the telecommunication front, the Post Office enjoyed a most successful year, both as far as the physical and financial achievements are concerned. All these achievements tend to be forgotten, or at best minimized, when the needs of the individual or the community are not met. That, finally, is the challenge that the Postmaster-General and his staff have to meet. It is a tremendous challenge. I find the readiness of the Administration to admit its own shortcomings, as one finds in the report of the Postmaster-General very refreshing, to say the least. There he says that the difficulty of recruiting male clerks is seriously hampering the rendering of an efficient service. This is not the only reference. Inevitably it encourages us, like a certain well-known fictional character, to ask for more. We must ask for more. We find, for example, that on the Witwatersrand alone, i.e. in Johannesburg, the East Rand and the West Rand, there are nearly 33 000 applicants still waiting for telephone services. In the Western Cape there are 13 400 and in Durban nearly 5 000. An interesting fact is that Pretoria seems to be fortunate—the reason for this escapes me at the moment—in that there is a waiting-list of only 2 471 there. Obviously, if one wants a telephone, move to Pretoria. I mention these figures to show that, in spite of its record-breaking achievement in the telephone sphere, the Post Office still has a long way to go. I wonder whether the hon. the Minister and his advisers can in fact give the public an indication of how long it is likely to take to wipe out the backlog of 81 000 and to reach the stage, which I am sure is the stage the Post Office is hoping to reach, where it can meet new applications for telephones more or less on the turn, as is the case in other countries that we know of. I know that at this stage it may be asking for the moon, but it must remain the target and it must be a target we should reach quickly. I think the public wants to know whether, considering the population growth and the growing demand of people of colour for telephone services, this is attainable.
Before I leave the subject of telephones, may I very warmly welcome the decision announced this afternoon by the hon. the Minister to prohibit the levying of service fees on telephone calls made in hotels and similar institutions. This is an issue we raised in the Post Office budget debate last year. At that time we drew attention to some of the shocking exploitations that goes on in this regard, particularly as far as trunk calls are concerned. I think that this decision on the part of the Minister is therefore very welcome.
Let us next look at another critical area of Post Office operations, an area which also impinges on our daily lives, viz. the delivery of internal mail. In this respect, too, let us give credit where credit is due: there have been considerable improvements. However, the shortcomings—this is the important fact—remain very considerable and, in fact, critical in spite of the commissioning of one of the largest and most complex computer-controlled mail sorting systems in the world. The delays of which we hear may well fall outside of the field of the mechanical sorting arrangements. The delays may be due to other factors. This is something we should like to know about. I, as an outsider, should like to know whether any of this is due to the fact that mail sorting machines apparently process only standardized mail. Are there statistics which suggest that it is non-standardized articles that are subject to delays, delays which are often very serious and seemingly inexplicable in the light of swift deliveries elsewhere? Whether that is in fact so or not, does the existence of non-standardized mail itself cause delays and difficulties? I ask that because if it is in fact so, I believe it would be wise to make the average person, by whom I mean almost anybody who posts a letter or parcel, far more aware of the need to meet the requirements of standardization. If that is a factor that contributes considerably to the efficiency of the whole set-up, that seems to me to be a simple thing to be able to do. There would in any case seem to be scope for more public guidance in this field. Those who have operated in this sphere, know from experience that that public guidance has to be pretty elementary and pretty persistent; in fact, it has to be repetitive to be effective in any way.
Once again we find in the report of the Postmaster-General the constant refrain of manpower shortage. The hon. the Minister was able to tell us this afternoon that there has been some easing of the situation. This manpower shortage applies not only to technical and technical auxiliary staff, but also, interestingly enough, to clerical and delivery staff. As far as clerical staff is concerned, the Postmaster-General’s reference to the Post Office’s inability to recruit sufficient mail clerks and retain their services being “a source of great concern”, is surely deeply disturbing. We are told that in the Pretoria/ Witwatersrand/Vereeniging area the situation has already reached a critical stage and that only with great effort and sacrifices on the part of the available staff was the Post Office “able to maintain a reasonably acceptable standard of services”. Sir, the Postmaster-General and his staff will be the first to admit that that is not what one wants. One wants far more than that. I believe the Government must now accept the fact that, in addition to the serious shortage of technically skilled personnel, there are categories of work which simply no longer appeal to whites, certainly not to the extent to enable the Post Office to manage services efficiently. This is a fact we must face.
The other point is that there simply are not and probably never will be sufficient Whites to do certain types of work in the Post Office which hitherto have been the preserve of Whites. I know that certain relaxations have been made, but why do we simply not face this fact and act on it? The answer is surely as plain as it can be that one has to, as a matter of deliberate policy, and as speedily as possible, open up more of these jobs to people of colour, Black or Brown, it does not matter. Surely it is crazy to tolerate the delays and the inefficiency which we encounter in the postal services, simply because people of colour who have never been used in job categories where there are now serious manpower shortages are not now employed. Under what circumstances does that make any kind of sense at all? Of course these people will need training, but that is not an insuperable task, particularly for the kind of services one has in mind. Let us take the example of counter service, of which every one of us has had personal experience. I am thinking of the countless suburban post offices throughout the country on a Saturday morning when those of us who are working people go to do our business. How many millions of man-hours are not wasted every year by people standing in endless queues waiting to buy stamps or postal orders or waiting to send a parcel? I cannot believe that there is an hon. member here who has not been into a post office and has this kind of experience. These queues are the result of one thing only, namely that White personnel are not available to render what in the final resort must be a pretty elementary service. Why not train Black and Brown people to do this job? They are already doing it in post offices in predominantly Black areas, so why not in the common areas? It will produce efficiency, it will reduce friction and it will bring about a tremendous saving on all fronts. Of course there will be prejudice, but I cannot think that there can be many sane South Africans who would prefer queuing to being served by people of colour.
If enough of these people were trained for counter service it would probably not be necessary to close post offices on Saturdays so as to enable people to work a five-day week. One has no objection to the principle of the five-day working week; we are in favour of that, but it is imperative that it should be brought about in such a way that post offices do not have to close on a Saturday morning. This seems to me to be a denial of a service to which the public has a right and if it is brought about by this kind of staff shortage, then I suggest that there is an elementary remedy at hand which we should apply. The hon. the Minister will be aware of the protests that have already been made here in the Cape from the Business and Professional Women’s Association who object to the closing of post offices on a Saturday morning. I hope that the authorities are going to be able to resist the temptation to do so because it will be depriving people of a service to which they are entitled.
One is aware of the fact that the Post Office is recruiting and training people of colour for various jobs. The hon. Minister has spoken about it this afternoon. The PMG’s report is full of it. It is also encouraging to see that these people are not being used, as was the case until very recently, if I may say, as the hon. the Minister’s predecessor used to say, to work in their own areas. That nonsense, mercifully, is passing us by. This applies particularly to technicians and telephone electricians, but I believe that in spite of what has been done this process could be very considerably speeded up. At 31 March 1976 there were 244 trained non-White telephone technicians in the service of the Post Office, and 173 technicians and 407 telephone technicians were in training. This refers to people of colour. This is a beginning, but it is only a beginning. These figures are modest in the extreme. Surely, in the interests of efficiency, if for no other reason, this manpower shortage must be drastically reduced? Fortunately South Africa is in the enviable position of having a huge reservoir of labour just waiting to be trained. Surely it would be a sin not to exploit this situation to the public’s advantage and to the advantage of the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who could be trained to render these elementary services.
I wonder whether the hon. the Minister would give us some information, whilst we are talking in this type of context, about the wage gap. I assume that we are moving in the direction of equal pay for equal work, but I also believe that we are pretty far from reaching this target. Is the Post Office working to any specific schedule?
I hope the Post Office will move as speedily as possible to wipe out the differences in pay between Whites and non-Whites doing the same work. There is no source of greater discrimination and bitterness than this. While we talk about discrimination, may I add that one would like to warmly congratulate the Post Office on having done away with those abominable “Whites” and “non-Whites” signs in the post offices. That was a sensible step and since the abolition of those signs has not, as far as I know, increased race friction or caused even a tiny part of the heavens to fall, the Post Office should be encouraged to go ahead along these lines as rapidly as possible. It is in the interest of efficiency and in the interest of all people concerned. Also, while we are dealing with this matter, could the hon. the Minister tell us what success or otherwise has attended the Postmaster-General’s move to employ and train women for half-day maintenance work? Has the scheme been abandoned or is it being extended? What about the recruitment of highly skilled people overseas? I, obviously, prefer locally-trained people, but while these are not available, or at any rate until they are available, it is certainly necessary and in the interests of efficiency, that we should make use of whatever overseas skills are available to us. Has overseas recruiting yielded any kind of results?
I come now to what some may regard as a hardy annual. It is going to remain a hardy annual, while some of us are around the scene here, because it has become a matter of increasing concern and also a factor of increasing importance in race relations. I refer, of course, to the question of telephone services in Black and Coloured areas, something about which the hon. the Minister was able to give us some heartening information this afternoon. I am told that in the prestige Coloured private residential areas in the Cape Peninsula, places like Elfindale, for example, people sometimes have to wait for five or more years for telephones. In other cases residents have had to wait upwards to eight years for telephones. It seems to be that Coloured home-ownership areas in the Cape Peninsula are the places which are experiencing the greatest hardship in that respect, and there is a feeling among the Coloured community—of course, they may be wrong—that the Post Office should look again at its priorities as far as townships and home-ownership areas are concerned. Be that as it may, the shortage of telephones in Coloured areas is still very serious indeed. It is not only causing inconvenience, but very real hardship. There has been an improvement, we know, but that is not nearly enough.
We come now to the Black areas where the situation is in some cases desperate. I warmly welcome the announcement by the hon. the Minister this afternoon of new projects in various areas, projects amounting to an expenditure of over R8,7 million. This is heartening, because the need is tremendous. One knows the difficulties the hon. the Minister has spoken about this afternoon, difficulties which are also referred to in the Postmaster-General’s report. We know the difficulties which the Post Office has with priorities, especially when it concerns the question of whether priority should be given to reducing the backlog in White areas on the Witwatersrand or whether telephones should be provided in Soweto.
Nevertheless, I would urge the department to look into the Soweto situation very seriously, for one reason above any other, a reason which I will come to in a minute. We know that the situation was aggravated last year by the unrest, when a telephone exchange was totally wrecked and construction and installation work suspended. However, I wonder when this work will in fact become possible. Meanwhile there is a long waiting list and residents and businessmen in a place like Soweto, where there are over one million people, have to wait years and years before they even stand a chance of obtaining a telephone. At the end of 1976 there were 1 242 telephones in the whole of Soweto, of which 71 were public telephones. On the waiting list alone were twice the number of telephones—in other words, 2 338. Another official source of the Post Office estimates the waiting list at over 3 600. However that may be, only 366 telephones were installed in this area during 1976. I have no doubt that this was partly due to the unrest.
One never gets through to any of them either.
As the hon. member for Houghton can tell, it is difficult to get through to those telephones. It is important to realize how the problem of inadequate telephones looks to Black people. Quite recently we had the case of a Soweto doctor who blamed the telephone system in the Black townships for the death of one of his patients. I would like to refer to the kind of reaction to this, a reaction which appeared in a Black newspaper. A very responsible Black editor wrote—
The writer goes on to explain what happened and says—
We have here a tragic case where an operator fell asleep at night, with the result that a call could not be put through for an ambulance. The editor goes on to say—
He is talking not only about telephone systems; he is also talking about services. This is why I think that we must look at this very carefully. The editor then goes on to say—
The final point that I want to make in this context is that Soweto is not an exceptional area as far as Black telephones are concerned. In the Black townships around Durban there is one telephone for every 1 320 people. In KwaMashu, a town with a population of more than 150 000, there are 120 telephones. I know that comparisons are odious and can be misleading, but it remains a fact that compared to the figures I have just given there are 113 000 telephones in Durban’s White residential area, in the city centre, with a population of 220 000. That means that there is one telephone for every two people. I urge the Department of Posts and Telecommunications to do what is humanly possible to provide our Black people with this basic facility.
[Inaudible.]
For the information of the Deputy Minister of Information and of the Interior sitting over there, I say it should be done to reduce friction and to remove another source of dissatisfaction. [Interjections.]
Let me conclude with a tribute to the tremendous helpfulness of the Postmaster-General and his staff. On countless occasions during the past 12 months I approached one or other officer with some request or other, and I can say without fear of contradiction that in every instance I received the utmost co-operation, help and unfailing courtesy from whoever I approached in the department. This may not be the experience of everybody, but I believe it is important that such a spirit should be there and, in fact, is. If animated by that kind of spirit, which I believe comes right from the top, then I say that, despite the tremendous staff problems, the tremendous problems of quality as well as of quantity, the Post Office will be able to overcome its difficulties and render the kind of service to the public which the public expects and which, I believe, the officials in the Post Office wish to give. We urge them to greater efforts with a spirit of that kind.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Parktown did not criticize the budget very much. All he did was to cast around looking for the odd issue to raise. However, he did not find much he could get his teeth into. It is very clear to me that the hon. member has only stood on the wrong side of the Post Office counter. He has never gone to see what happens behind the counter. Therefore he is judging the matter one-sidedly, from one point of view only. I want to give him some advice. I do not know whether a dictionary of technical Post Office terms has been compiled yet, but there is one very interesting post office term which I referred to a few years ago and which I want to mention again so that hon. members can take note of it. In the Post Office there is a term “sakkeroller” to describe a person. Translated literally, a “sakkeroller” is a pickpocket. A pickpocket is a person who is in serious trouble if the police pick him up. However, in the Post Office this word has a different meaning. I want to tell the hon. member for Parktown that he and his party must not do any political pickpocketing of the official Opposition. He must please take note of this lesson. It is not the right thing to do.
I should like to return to the hon. member for Sunnyside. As one of the hon. members who participated in the debate, he delivered a very good, positive and thorough speech. He covered a wide field. It is very clear that the hon. member for Sunnyside is familiar with Post Office finances and with the affairs of the Post Office in general. I think that this is the first time I have had the opportunity—I was not here last year when the Post Office debate took place—of congratulating the hon. member for Sunnyside on his election as chairman of the Select Committee on Posts and Telecommunications. This is a Select Committee which was formed recently, a year or so ago. As chairman in the field of postal affairs, the hon. member is rendering Parliament a major service.
Speaking of Select Committees, I just want to say that like the hon. member for Sunnyside, I had the opportunity of serving as a member of the Select Committee on Public Accounts for many years, as I still do. It is a Select Committee which gives attention to and controls the spending of State money in South Africa on behalf of Parliament. Many witnesses have appeared before the Select Committee over the years. One of the witnesses was the present Postmaster-General. It was an experience to be a member of that Select Committee and to see how this chief official, who is the chief accounting officer of his department, acted before 17 members of the House of Assembly and replied to questions concerning the activities of his department and how the money is utilized there. I want to tell the 67 000 or 70 000 members of the Post Office that it is to their advantage that I can say that I am proud of their chief accounting officer. He no longer appears before us, but before the other Select Committees. In all the years which I served—and still serve—on that committee, it was one of the greatest pleasures to see that chief officer in action and to see how he replied to the questions. I want to add that he appears before that Select Committee entirely on his own. He does not bring any other officials with him, nor does he bring a pile of notes, but he can reply to every question put by every member of that Select Committee out of hand. To me, this attests to absolutely sound management. I say this to his credit. I want to tell the officials of the Post Office that they should very much appreciate having such a Postmaster-General, and can justifiably be proud of him.
Earlier today I saw a former colleague of mine in the gallery. It was the Deputy Postmaster-General, Mr. N. J. A. Jordaan.
We knew him as Nico Jordaan. He and I worked together in the Johannesburg post office about 40 years ago.
Is he a “chummie” of yours?
He is a “chummie” of mine. He began at the bottom and eventually retired as Senior Deputy Postmaster-General. I want to pay tribute to him, too. In the days when we worked there together, we were under a strange Government, a Government which, fortunately, does not exist in South Africa anymore. At that time one thought that the top officials in the Post Office were people who were working for another boss across the sea. Their interests were not in South Africa. In spite of this and the victimization which the Boers had to put up with under that Government, that official’s competence took him to one of the top positions in the Post Office. This is blowing my own trumpet, but I refer to it in lighter vein. Mr. Jordaan and I served together in a department of the post office in Johannesburg, a department which was known as the inquiry department. When an article of mail was missing, we had to look for it. In those days thousands were lost and we did not find all of them. Another former official of the Post Office under whose supervision I worked was a kind old man, Mr. F. W. Furze. He always told me: “Mr. Van Tonder, there may be only one Postmaster-General or one Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, but there is no reason why you cannot become it.” However, he did not know about the hon. the Minister or the fact that he is definitely better than I am. Nor did he know that a man like Mr. Louis Rive would appear on the scene and spoil my chances. I do want to mention that this Mr. Jordaan—he has retired now— and I have been spared for South Africa over the past 40 years and I think that this is something for which we and South Africa should be grateful.
To return to the annual report, it is with great pleasure that I join the hon. member for Sunnyside in saying that this is a very thorough, well-prepared annual report in which can be found any information which one could possibly want. I am not referring to the appearance, since it is the content which is important to me. The appearance is also neat of course. The hon. member criticized speakers on that side of the House for complaining that they had nothing to talk about, because they had not yet seen the budget speech, but I have still not seen it. There is so much information in the report that one could even deliver a very long speech on the Postmaster-General’s foreword and I am going to try to say something about this briefly.
Important aspects arising out of this are that it was not necessary for the Post Office to negotiate foreign loans. The Post Office got by on its own money and it was not necessary to apply to the Treasury for loans or assistance. The Post Office stood on its own two feet and this says a great deal. If one bears in mind the fact that the telephone network has been extended by more than 130 000 telephones—that is a lot of telephones—it means that hundreds of telephones had to be installed every day of the year. If we look at the net assets of the Post Office, we find that on 31 March 1975 they amounted to approximately R959 million. During the year ending 31 December 1976—this is the year which the report covers—the assets increased by 19,1% to R1 142 million. We also find a table in the report which covers the six months from 1 April to 30 September last year. In other words, the report before us is only about seven to eight months old and it provides the latest available figures. In view of the scope of the activities of the Post Office, it is an achievement that they were still able to provide statistics relating to six months of the new year, a year which need not, really, be reported on at this stage. During the six months to 30 September the assets rose by R76 million. This represents 6,6% for the six months and 13,2% on an annual basis. Therefore the rate has decreased slightly. The revenue for the financial year 1975-’76 increased by 22,9% and up to 30 September it increased to 8,8%, which is 17,6% on an annual basis. The operating expenditure for the 1975-’76 financial year increased by 17,7% from R402 000 million to R473 000 million. In other words, as against a revenue increase of 22,9%, there was an operating expenditure of only 17,7%. It constitutes an achievement that the expenditure did not rise as rapidly as the revenue. If one compares the salaries of the Post Office over this period one finds that from 1975 to 1976 there was an increase of 7,4% in total salaries, from R190 000 million to R204 000 million. By 30 September the amount was R232 000 million, which represents an increase of 13,76%. Of course this reflects the 10% increase which was added on 1 July last year. In the Post Office we had a saying that “figures do not lie, but liars can figure.” I have “figured” a little, but I must say that my figures do not lie. In 1975 the assets were R958,89 million, whereas revenue was R452 000 million. If one expresses this as a percentage of the assets, the revenue was 47,16% of the assets. If one looks at 1976, one finds that the assets were R1 142,15 million and that revenue was R555,79 million. Therefore, expressed as a percentage of the assets, revenue amounted to 48,66% and it therefore rose from 47,16% to 48,66%. If anyone wants to tell me that this is not an example of increasing efficiency in the Post Office, I shall show him other figures to prove this. If we look at the half year ending 30 September 1976, we see that the fixed assets amounted to R128,5 million, that the revenue was R605,12 million and that the revenue, expressed as a percentage of the fixed assets, increased to 49,66%. Therefore increases were experienced in both periods I have compared.
Now let us take another figure to show that the Post Office is on the right path and is moving in the right direction. Let us take the average revenue per staff member of the Post Office. In 1975 there was a staff of 56 833 with a total revenue of R452 million. The average revenue per staff member was therefore R6 869 per year. In 1976 the number of staff increased to 76 183 and revenue amounted to R555 million. The average revenue per staff member was therefore R8 272, which therefore represents an increase of approximately R1 500 within a period of one year. This represents an increase of 20,42%. This is definite evidence of improvement. If we take it up to 30 September 1976 on a yearly basis, the revenue per staff member has increased from R8 272 per annum to R8 911 per annum, which represents an increase of 7,72%. However, if we take the matter a little further and compare the total salaries paid with the total revenue of the Post Office, we get a very interesting picture. In 1975, as I have already said, the revenue amounted to R452 million, whereas salaries amounted to R190 million. Therefore salaries, expressed as a percentage of revenue, amounted to 42,03%. In the following year, namely 1976, the salaries amounted to R204 million while the revenue amounted to R555 million. Salaries expressed as a percentage of revenue therefore amounted to 36,73% in comparison with 42,03% the previous year. I want to challenge anyone to prove that these figures do not prove that the Post Office has dynamically and brilliantly succeeded in effecting a continuous improvement in its own affairs. Now let us take a look at the next half-year. Here the percentage increased by approximately 2% as a result of the salary increases, which hon. members already know about. Another interesting comparison which one can draw is how the average salary of each member of staff compares with the average revenue per member of staff. As I said, in 1975 the revenue was R6 869 per member of staff. The salary was R2 887. Now if one wants to see how much gross profit was made on every member of staff, one divides the revenue among the whole staff and one sees that the profit was R3 982. This is a very good figure. Let us look at the figures for the following year. The revenue per member of staff was R8 272. The average salary per member of staff was R3 038. This is a profit of R5 234. The staff is becoming more and more valuable to the Post Office. To me, this proves that we can be grateful for what the Post Office is doing. What is more, it also proves that the hon. Opposition speakers who have spoken thus far had no case whatsoever. They spoke in general terms. They did not mention anything specific and never said: “Look, here is the proof.” They only speak in general terms.
The responsible Opposition has not yet spoken.
Yes, I know. What the hon. member says, is true. The responsible UP is still to speak.
Mr. Speaker, I should just like to return for a moment to the hon. member for Wynberg who complained so bitterly about the telephone service in certain areas. I want to ask him to go and look at the 1928 telephone directory, specifically at the section for the town of Middelburg, Transvaal. This was 18 years after the establishment of the Union of South Africa and the Post Office department of the time. There was not a single De Villiers in Middelburg who had a telephone. There was not a single Van der Merwe who had one. Nor was there a single Van Tonder or Heunis. Moreover, there was not a single Afrikaner in Middelburg who had a telephone in 1928. All good things take time.
I want to continue to prove and praise the efficiency of the Post Office. I shall now take the total operating expenditure as a percentage of total revenue. In 1975 the revenue was R452 million and the expenditure, R402 million. Therefore, expenditure expressed as a percentage of revenue was 89,02%. In 1976 the income was R555 million and the expenditure R473 million, i.e. a difference of R85 million. This is 4% less than the previous year. This is an amazing percentage decrease in one year. If one looks at the figures for the half year ending 30 September, one finds that that percentage dropped to 84,49%.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that the affairs of the Post Office are in very good hands. If one thinks of all the problems which the Post Office has, the vast areas which the Post Office has to cater for, the services to farms and the miles of farm lines which have to be provided; if one thinks of the shortage of well-trained people and of the availability of people who are capable of being well trained, then the Post Office has performed, and is still performing, a task of gigantic proportions. I honestly believe that the Official Opposition has little to complain about, and that the Government, the Post Office and the hon. the Minister in particular can be very proud of the achievements of the Post Office over the years. There were complaints about the long waiting list for telephone services.
The hon. Opposition speakers mentioned a waiting list of 13 000 for the Western Cape and added that there were few telephones in Pretoria, but adding a telephone to the network is not something that can be done overnight. A telephone is not a piece of apparatus which can be bought over the counter at the OK. It requires years of advance planning. I have spoken about this before, and I want to repeat it, viz. that there is too little co-ordination between people who establish and lay out townships and the authorities that have to provide the telephone service and other services. Sometimes a block of flats is erected in a certain area, and if it is done by a good building contractor who knows his job, it is completed within a year, or at most, within two years. Thousands of people are then accommodated in such a building. The Post Office is then expected to provide telephones within 24 hours. It requires years of advance planning to serve all those people—up to 10 000 of them. It may happen that a building like this is erected in a shorter time than it takes the manufacturer to manufacture the switchboard apparatus to be installed at a switchboard in order to provide that service. After all, it is impossible for people who move into new townships to expect the telephone to be there when they enter their house for the first time. They must take into account the problems involved in providing a telephone service. One would do well to ask township developers to consider the telephone requirements of their potential buyers well in advance and also to make provision for the necessary information to be provided to the planning department of the Post Office well in advance in order to ensure adequate telephone services when they are required. I was lucky in my constituency, due to the good liaison between myself and the Department of Posts and Telecommunications, to the good relations between myself and the hon. the Minister and his predecessors and due also to the patience of my voters in the new townships who were not afraid to wait five or six years. In this connection I received many inquiries and instructions, upon which the Post Office reacted to very good effect, and added their telephone exchanges to the network at the correct time and the correct places.
I can tell the hon. the Minister and his department that there is not a single voter in my constituency who will vote UP, Prog, or New UP, because there are not enough telephones. My voters are people who understand the position. I do not believe that one should bring this matter of telephone services and telecommunications into the political arena. It is something which all are entitled to: UP, Nat and everyone else.
In conclusion, I just want to refer to another matter which has struck me. About 10 or 11 years ago the Press launched tremendous attacks against the Post Office. The Press did not allow a single occasion for criticizing the Post Office unnecessarily, to go by. Their great champion, who is no longer here, was the former hon. member for Orange Grove. He has left this House and left the scene. At that time the Press went out of its way to cast the Post Office, as a subdivision of the Public Service, in an unfavourable light, in order to make political capital out of it. Since those years, particularly under the present Postmaster-General, a liaison between the Post Office authorities and the Press has begun to develop. Today I want to pay tribute to both sides in regard to this matter. The Press quite correctly began to adopt a different attitude towards the Post Office and its problems as regards the provision of telephone services in a particular. They started to look at matters in a positive light, and acted accordingly. The Post Office and its officials, in turn, went out of their way to state the problems of the Post Office openly by means of liaison committees with Assocom and the Handelsinstituut. In this way they achieved understanding. There was also a contribution on the part of the Press and today, public opinion as regards the Post Office is very sound. It is in the interests of South Africa that this should be so. It also enables the Post Office to provide an even better service since it does not always have to be looking over its shoulder at criticism levelled at its administration by the Press. I therefore want to congratulate them, too. In conclusion I want to convey my sincere thanks to the hon. the Minister for the fact that, due to good management, it was not necessary to increase rates.
Mr. Speaker, when I was a small boy in the town of Umtata, I was walking down the main street one day with my father when I heard an old Xhosa talking away to himself in a loud voice. I said: “Dad what is he doing?” He replied: “My boy, he is singing his own praises.” That is how I wish to leave the hon. member for Germiston District who, I feel, has done an admirable job of singing the praises of his side of the House. I associate myself with anything he had to say that was good about the Postmaster-General and his staff, but I think we should ignore the rest of his speech.
The criticism levelled at the hon. the Minister in this Second Reading debate today is based on the fact that we on this side of the House do not believe for one moment that the services rendered by his department are commensurate with the charges that are paid for those services by the public. There can be no disputing this fact. I submit that in respect of the telephone services even the Postmaster-General acknowledges this. I should like to quote, firstly from page 15 of the annual report where one reads—
Those are the words of the Postmaster-General. I grant that he continues by saying that greater efforts are being made, but he admits that they have not yet achieved acceptable standards. In a newspaper article dated 8 September 1976 he was questioned about the local call situation in Johannesburg, and when it was suggested that it was often quicker and easier to call London and that the line was often clearer than when dialling a local call, he said to the interviewer—
The blame for that rests at the door of the hon. the Minister sitting on that side of the House. I would like to suggest that the hon. the Minister must realize here and now that the quality of the telephone service is far below standard, particularly in respect of the poor suffering subscriber in the major cities of South Africa. I say this because once a subscriber has dialled a number, the die is cast. He has dialled the number and, from the moment the person at the other end lifts the receiver, the charge is levied. That, to me, is the most important thing. The charge is levied, but all too often the voice at the other end is not that of the person you wanted to communicate with in the first instance. All too often the number has no connection whatsoever with the number you dialled. So, as I say, the poor subscriber dials in hope, but, at every attempt, he dials without much confidence. He can be sure of one thing, and one thing only.
His account.
The only thing that he can be sure of is that 4c goes on to his account each time it happens. Unfortunately, if he lives in an area which is just outside the city, it may be 8c. It may even be 12c but that is the name of the game. No man minds paying for a service but any human being will baulk at having to pay for an inefficient service. I am sure that the tales which the South African public can tell in respect of their resentment at having to pay for calls to people and to business houses with whom they had no desire to communicate in the first place, must be legion. I have often wondered whether the hon. the Minister should not consider giving telephone subscribers a “danger” discount off their telephone accounts. I think this would be reasonable because there is an extreme danger when one dials that one is going to get the wrong number and there is the certain danger that the additional amount will be incorporated in one’s telephone account. Very often one finds, when one dials a number, that one repeatedly gets the same incorrect number. One repeatedly gets some poor unhappy person who picks up the phone and says: “This is 545555;” in the meantime one is dialling 546843 and is getting through to the same person each time. The only solution, I find, is that one has to request that subscriber please to leave his telephone receiver off the hook because one is trying to get 546843 and not 545555. Then one has about a 90% to 99% chance of getting through. If he does not leave his receiver off, one will continue to get through to him.
The crossed line is another frustration that is all too often encountered. [Interjections.] Hon. members are making a bit of a noise about that. The truth hurts, does it?
I think that one of the most helpless feelings that one can endure is when, having accepted an incoming call, the subscriber at the other end does not put his receiver down properly. One can then do what one likes, but one cannot get a dialling tone.
Who is to blame for that?
It is not the fault of the recipient of the call. Surely there must be some way or something that can be done to enable a time-switch to come into effect so that at the end of a half-hour period, for argument’s sake, switchgear will automatically come into play and disconnect one’s previous call. Otherwise one finds oneself in the position—and this has happened to me—with such an incoming call at about 12.30 on a Saturday and one cannot make further use of one’s telephone for the whole weekend. I defy anybody to tell me that a similar sort of thing has not happened to them.
In reply, recently, to a question I put to the hon. the Minister—question No. 581—asking him to give me a breakdown of telephones reported out of order in various centres of the country, it was interesting to note that the Witwatersrand has the highest daily percentage of malfunctioning telephones, this percentage being in relation to the number of telephones in use in the area. It is reflected as being a figure of 0,4%. Durban is the lowest. We are very proud of our Durban. Somebody said Pretoria was a nice place. Durban is far better. [Interjections.] We only have 0,24%, but—and this is the big “but”—if one extends these percentages over a year, it means that on the Witwatersrand 146% of the telephones in service will go out of order. In Durban, 87,6% of the telephones in service will go out of order. Is this not a happy state of affairs? I believe it would be fair to say that if one takes a mean average across the cities of our country, at least once a year one can be assured of the fact that one’s telephone will go out of order. It does not sound much, but when one considers the inconvenience— and inconvenience is something which is very difficult to measure in terms of money; it is very difficult to put a price on inconvenience—and the time that it sometimes takes to rectify a fault, it means a tremendous amount. It must be remembered that there are many people who have no troubles. So, naturally, it follows that there must be many others whose telephones go “on the blink” anything between 10 and 20 times a year.
Incidentally, during his Second Reading speech the hon. the Minister made reference to the number of deferred applications for telephones. This, I am afraid, falls on rather sceptical ears as far as this side of the House is concerned, because the hon. the Minister tells us that from 93 480 deferred applications it is expected that the figure will be reduced to 80 000 by 31 March this year. He added that this was the lowest figure in respect of waiting applicants since 1969. I wonder if the hon. the Minister is aware of the fact that we happen to be in an economic recession. Economically we are right at the bottom. This is hardly the time when people are going to apply for new telephones. The hon. the Minister should be aware of this fact, and he should be planning for the day when we come out of that recession, the day when he is going to be inundated with applications for telephones. Then, we are going to be right back to square one and in a crisis situation.
The hon. the Minister talks about party lines. He says that there are 4 776 party lines on the automatic system. This is a drop in an enormous bucket. We are nowhere near getting a solution to the problem of party lines with that sort of progress.
Now, I want to deal with that hardy annual, the training and the retaining of telephone technicians and electricians. Here my sympathies lie with the Postmaster-General, his regional directors, and particularly with those in charge of the engineering and telephone services in the various regions. It is a well-known fact that the Post Office is looked upon as being an inexpensive training ground by a lot of young men, particularly—I regret to say it—by Whites who receive technical training and then move on to new pastures. They, regrettably, join the Post Office with this very objective in mind, always happy in the knowledge that the grass is greener on the other side. The grass is certainly greener and has, until recently, well covered the pasture.
However, although the greenness remains, the pasture is becoming a little threadbare. Jobs in the private sector are becoming harder to come by. But, the fact remains that as it has happened to a great degree and is now happening to a lesser degree, it will inevitably happen again to a greater degree when the economy takes an upswing. I believe that the answer lies in a thorough examination of the conditions of service and the pay incentives offered on the technical side of the Post Office. It is with regret that one notes that the department during 1976—the hon. member for Parktown touched on this and I hope that this helps him—recruited 54 people abroad, of whom 11 have already left. This means that in the few short months since the end of last year we have lost 20% of the people who were recruited abroad. I think it is also relevant at this time to note that in reply to a question on the shortage of technicians and electricians in the Post Office on 31 December, the hon. the Minister advised me that the department had a shortage of some 365 technicians and 415 electricians at that date. It is shortages in these areas that cause inefficiency that has to be suffered by the public in respect of the telephone services. I have repeatedly appealed for more use to be made of Asiatics in Natal. It is with regret that I notice that there are only some 120 currently employed in the Durban area as opposed to over 1 000 Whites.
In his Second Reading speech the hon. the Minister reflects an improving situation, but it is not enough. I feel that if my remarks in respect of the training of Asiatics, Coloureds and Blacks in all areas are acted upon, it can only bode well for the future of the proper maintenance of our vast and complex telephone network in this country.
Mr. Speaker, it is important that we should look at the amendment moved by the hon. member for Wynberg. He moved that the words after “that” be substituted by—
After all, this is an absolutely ludicrous, nonsensical amendment. It comes from a party which is chronically ill. The official Opposition in South Africa is a party which is political ill. The hon. member for Wynberg comes along here with an idea which is completely and entirely negative. Does the official Opposition afford no recognition to what is being achieved in South Africa? The hon. member for Wynberg—not to mention the hon. member for Umhlanga—made a contribution in the Second Reading which does not belong in a Second Reading at all. It dealt with trifles, with a telephone with which the hon. member for Umhlanga was supposedly unable to contact the right person. This is ludicrous. As far as I am concerned, he could perhaps have dialled the wrong number. I do not know, because I am not acquainted with his skill in using a telephone. [Interjections.] The tragedy of the official Opposition in South Africa is that they do not afford any recognition to anything which is achieved or done. I want to say quite frankly today that the official Opposition is politically ill. The Post Office staff must take note of how much the official Opposition appreciates what has been achieved and the reaction of an Opposition which can no longer make any assessment of value or appreciate anything. Let us take the past 10 years as an example. I am loyal to the hon. the Minister, because he is doing a good job under difficult circumstances. The hon. member for Wynberg will definitely not score political points in this regard.
Let us look at the past 10 years. It is an achievement that over the past 10 years, R1 109,2 million has been spent on telecommunications in South Africa. This is a massive amount. R119 million has been spent on buildings. This is interesting, because in 1967, we had 1,28 million telephones in South Africa. After a period of 10 years, in March 1977, we had 2,23 million telephones. Therefore, approximately 1 million telephones were installed in South Africa over a period of 10 years. If this is not an achievement, I do not know what is.
There were only 300 000 telephones in South Africa during the UP regime and there was an acute shortage of 25%. Today there is a minimal shortage, approximately 2% to 3%. In the days of the UP there was a shortage of telephones of 25%. This is the party which is now moving this ludicrous amendment here. The time has come for us to stop criticizing the telecommunications system in South Africa. It compares well with the services in the rest of the world. Let us take a look at Israel. Perhaps the hon. member for Houghton will be interested in this—
Therefore this is a problem which prevails throughout the world. Look at their installation cost—R170. In South Africa it is R30. I want to show what the position is in France and I quote from The Citizen of 7 March 1976—
It is easy to disparage and criticize the postal services in South Africa. I maintain that telecommunications in South Africa have improved immensely. We must look at the position with regard to rates. The reproach is always being hurled at us that we have such poor services here and have to pay such high rates. However, I say that the Post Office is in fact doing well. Let us compare rates. Firstly, if we compare the postal rates, we see that the rate is 17 cents in West Germany; 14 cents in Switzerland; 19 cents in Holland; 17 cents in the United Kingdom; and in South Africa it costs four cents to mail an airmail letter. But the hon. member for Wynberg says that we have excessive rates and that we should use some of our loan funds and capital funds in order to decrease our rates. Our rates are among the lowest in the world. If we take a look at parcel rates, we see that the rate is 67 cents in Western Germany; 35 cents in Switzerland; 170 cents in Holland; 85 cents in the United Kingdom, and in South Africa it costs 25 cents to mail a parcel. It is the lowest rate in comparison with any one of these countries.
†It is interesting to look at the study on world-wide telephone tariffs of 1 September 1975. This is very interesting to see. They converted everything into Deutsche Mark. It is very interesting to see that South Africa compares very favourably.
Installation fees—
i.e. the lowest. The annual subscription rates are—
Rate for one local call—
Hon. members have therefore nothing whatsoever to moan about in regard to tariffs. Our tariffs are the lowest in the world.
*I want to go further and look at the components of the increase in the cost of living in South Africa. The department’s achievements at this level have seldom been equalled. When we look at the cost of living index, we are aware that the components as far as the State is concerned are the departments which provide services, viz. the Railways, the Post Office and the semi-Government bodies like Iscor and Escom. In this regard I want to point out one of the most interesting figures, a figure which, in my considered opinion, clearly shows that we are here dealing with a department which has made efficiency its goal. In accordance with the recommendations of the Franzsen commission, the department regulates its capital formation correctly. It is understandable that more than 60% comes from loan funds, because it cannot come from revenue if inflation is to be combated. An attempt must be made to reduce it even further in the process, for example the reduction to 56% this year. When one considers the past 10 years in perspective and takes the figure 100 as an index figure, one sees that the cost of living increased to 215, and that is an increase of the index figure to 115. In the case of the SAR there is an increase of 110 on an index figure of 100; Iscor showed an increase of 136, and in the case of Escom the increase was 139. As regards the postal services, the increase is only 63, viz. the lowest increase in comparison with that of any Government department or semi-state organization. In these times of inflation it is an achievement to keep the tarrifs as low as possible without curtailing the services which have to be provided. Hon. members are aware of the fact that the amount which was voted for the Post Office this year is the highest ever voted for the Post Office; in other words a policy of curtailment has not been adopted. On the contrary. This year we are providing a record amount of telephone connections, viz. 150 000. Today there is a shortage of 80 000; last year there was a shortage of 93 000 and the year before that there was a shortage of 103 000. Perhaps the hon. member for Maitland can discuss transport, but he should rather leave the Post Office alone, because he does not understand it.
When are the tariffs going to rise again?
Under the present inflationary conditions, is it not an achievement that there have been no tariff increases for the past three years? I think that this is an achievement, not in South Africa alone, but in the whole world. The hon. member for Umhlanga alleges that the Post Office does not provide a good service. It is ludicrous to allege anything of the kind. Our service in South Africa is excellent. Practically every night I phone my home from Acacia Park and I nearly always get through immediately. The telecommunications service in South Africa is particularly good, and for the information of the hon. member for Graaff-Reinet I just want to say that an excellent, first-rate service is being provided in Rustenburg. The two big new residential areas, Protea Park and Geelhout Park were to have had their telephone services by the end of April. However, I received a letter from the regional director stating that these services had already been completed last month. This is an achievement. It cannot be held against me that I represent a decent constituency. (Interjections.] Growth and development take place where there are inherent potential and growth possibilities. That is why the postal and telephone services are moving in directions, which may be remunerative and this is why Rustenburg enjoys priority. I trust that those speakers on the Opposition side who will speak after me—whether it be the official Opposition, or the small party which I like more than the official Opposition, or the party in the middle which I do not like at all—will afford the staff of the Post Office in South Africa some recognition. Do hon. members know that over the past six years an average of between four and five million manhours has been worked by the postal staff without remuneration? Expressed in financial terms, this represents an amount of approximately R27 million, according to my calculations. This is an example which can be held up to anyone in South Africa, namely that the Post Office staff are prepared to work four or five million manhours over a period of six years without any remuneration for love of their cause, thereby saving the Post Office R27 million. If this is not an achievement, then I do not know what should be expected from staff. Therefore this staff must be afforded recognition for this. It is interesting to read the following in the official journal of the South African Telecommunications Association—Live Wire—
TYE IS MOEILIK.
In other words, not a year for the UP!—
This comes from an editorial in the official journal of the South African Telecommunications Association. The postal staff therefore recognizes the present set-up, the present economic climate, all those things which are causing tension in South Africa. May every speaker who stands up in this House to speak about the postal services, pay tribute to a staff which came up with achievements of the kind illustrated by the statistics I gave hon. members. We must pay tribute to them and wish them all of the best. We can all learn a lesson from the Post Office staff. I believe that each one of us can work harder and I believe, too, that we can work more efficiently. I believe that the Post Office staff has set a fine example to everyone in the Republic of South Africa.
Mr. Speaker, I find it somewhat difficult to participate in this debate today. Last year I still was a member of the official Opposition and an authority on the Peddie Post Office only. Today, however, I have to be an authority on all post offices. What makes matters even worse for me, is the fact that I have just spent an hour in a dentist’s chair and to crown it all, I have to succeed a dentist in this debate.
The hon. member for Rustenburg attacked the Opposition because they had passed some criticism in this debate. But I feel that it is the duty of an opposition to criticize.
Responsible criticism.
I hope that my criticism will be regarded as responsible criticism. I want to cross swords with the hon. member because of the facts he quoted here to defend the Post Office budget. He said that all costs had increased; that a person had to pay more for electricity from Escom, that the costs of Iscor had increased and that rail tariffs had been increased. I must say that it is a very good argument for a member of the Opposition to use, because it shows that things are not going so well.
During my absence the hon. member for Sunnyside made a speech on which I have received a report from my political reporters. The hon. member for Sunnyside is an important member of this House. Next to the hon. the Minister he is the chief spokesman on posts and telecommunications on the side of the Government. He is also the chairman of the posts and telecommunications group on the opposite side of this House. Therefore he is a very important hon. member. One may say that he is the shadow Minister of Posts and Telecommunications. The hon. member advocated another cent on postage here. He wants a further R10 million. This is a matter of great concern to me because it might be an indication of things to come. It makes me somewhat apprehensive of the future, because the hon. the Minister has reserved to himself the right to do something about tariffs at a later stage, when the session is over. I am grateful for the fact that the hon. member for Sunnyside is not the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications at this stage.
†Mr. Speaker, I sincerely hope that the hon. the Ministers of Finance, of Economic Affairs and of Transport have taken notice of the budget of the hon. the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications. I sincerely hope that they will take a leaf out of his book.
One swallow does not make a summer!
He has succeeded in providing the same service— indeed, in some ways an improved service—without finding it necessary to increase postal tariffs. He has succeeded in doing this in spite of the increase in salaries awarded from 1 July 1976 and in spite of inflation and increased costs. The hon. the Minister has, however, reserved the right to increase tariffs at some later stage. We know what has happened when the hon. the Minister of Transport did the same when he jumped new tariffs on us in the middle of the year when Parliament was not in session and we were unable to argue it. We know that the hon. the Minister of Finance the other day all of a sudden subjected us to an increase in excise duty. I am therefore very suspicious of what might happen here. For this reason I cannot support the budget of the hon. the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications. I will have to support the amendment which has been proposed. I cannot, however, avoid complimenting him on introducing a budget which is far above the level of any of those so far introduced by his colleagues. The credit for this budget cannot, however, go to the hon. the Minister alone. It would be quite impossible for him to introduce a budget like this were it not for a dedicated and highly productive staff, a staff who are so ably led by Mr. Louis Rive, to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude for his able guidance and self-sacrifice. We are sincere when we say this about our Post Office officials, for these officials work very long hours and are always prepared to work overtime. When telephone lines wash away in the rural areas, linesmen come out in all types of weather to repair the telephone communications.
The hon. member for Wynberg complained about the closing down of certain outlying post offices and the resultant decline in postal services. I can only think that a factor in the declining postal services in this case could be inability to buy postage stamps, because one can send one’s telegrams by telephone, if one has a telephone, and one’s letters one can post in the post-box.
However, postage stamps become a problem. I wonder if the hon. the Minister cannot in some way make it possible for postage stamps to be bought in a grocery shop or any department store in some of these areas. It would be much easier if one could buy postage stamps over the counter. The sale of postage stamps can be easily controlled by the Post Office because postage stamps are not the sort of thing that can easily be stolen as the control numbers are known. In addition the price of the stamps is fixed. If this is not satisfactory, I believe the hon. the Minister can consider putting up stamp slot machines at convenient places in these areas. Indeed, I have seen this work in other places and we used to have them at most of our railway stations, although I have not seen them there lately. However, I think that this should alleviate the situation because it is most frustrating if one wants to post a letter but cannot because the post office is closed or is no longer there. As regards the postage stamp slot machines, one hopes they will not become the one-armed bandits that some of the “tickey boxes” at our airports have become. So often one wants to dial one’s wife from the airport to say that one’s aeroplane is late or something like that, merely to find that the telephone is conveniently out of order—I do not know whether that is because someone has tampered with it—and just swallows one’s money without giving one a connection.
It was also most gratifying to note that the backlog in deferred applications for exchange connections has been reduced from 93 480 to 80 000. Although it is gratifying to see this, it is still a long way from being the complete job. I shall be very happy the day the hon. the Minister can say that the backlog has been entirely wiped out. I know what it is like to be on a deferred list, because I am on one at the moment. The difficulty is that the exchange in the town concerned is so overloaded that there is not room for one more telephone. One of these days I shall be contacting either the Minister or the Postmaster-General in an attempt to get that exchange improved.
At what place?
I can assure the hon. member it is not in Peddie.
Further, I think it is important to note the efforts that are being made to improve the services in the Black townships. One is aware of the difficulties that exist in this regard. Nevertheless, I believe it is important that these services be provided. In this modern day and age and with the increased sophistication of the Black people in this country a telephone is no longer a luxury, but it becomes a necessity. Indeed, I believe that in the townships it is perhaps much more of a necessity than it is in our luxury suburbs, especially in the light of what has happened in our townships in recent months. The more respectable Bantu sometimes would like to use a telephone urgently to get in touch with the authorities in order to get protection from rioters or something like that.
The better training and utilization of staff is another important development, particularly the training of non-White staff. I think it is commendable to note from the Minister’s speech that it was necessary to leave only 77 seconded White personnel in the Transkei out of the 700 personnel who were there at the time when the Transkei got its independence. However, it is not only in the homelands where the services of non-White staff are required. In the large townships within the White areas non-White staff are also badly needed to expand the services the Post Office provides there. As they are trained, I believe a large number of them should also be channelled to the townships in order to serve their own people in the White areas as well as those in the homelands.
Finally, in every budget one hears a lot about the electronic improvements that are being made. All I can say about the electronic improvements, on which I am no expert, is that if they help to wipe out the backlog and if they help to improve our services, the more the better. In that case let us hope we see a lot more of them.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Wynberg, who opened the debate on the other side, really put up a very poor show this afternoon. I think the hon. member for Durban Point would have made a much better job of it than he did. I listened carefully to his speech and hoped he would say something one could at least react to, but I really think that as the main speaker of the official Opposition Party he put up a very poor show. He merely complained about the fact that he had to make his speech immediately after the hon. the Minister had introduced his budget. However, if he had worked his way through the annual report, the estimates of operating expenditure and the estimates of capital expenditure, he could have made a much better contribution than he actually did.
It looks to me as if the hon. member for Umhlanga is having some difficulties with the dialling. Having noted in the annual report that the Post Office offers all manner of training courses, I wonder if they cannot give him a short course. I think that perhaps he does not know exactly how to set about dialling. Perhaps there is some little thing they can do to help him solve his problem.
The hon. member for Albany, someone from the old UP, himself said that last year he had only “Peddie authority”. I think he did a bit better this year. I want to agree with him in saying that we should not neglect the non-White areas; on the other hand, there is also a fairly long waiting list of Whites. I do not think we should give the non-Whites claim to preferential treatment, when it comes to service, merely because they are non-Whites. That would be discrimination in the other extreme. Let me give just one example: In the annual report, on page 64, we see the heading: “Schedule of deferred applications for telephone service.” One of the items falls in my constituency, i.e. Ottery where there are 1 200 applications for ordinary services on the deferred list. That is just a nice word for a waiting list. Many of those applications are from Whites who have already been on the waiting list for years. I corresponded with our very friendly deputy regional director of telephone services and put forward the best possible arguments I could to get those people services, but I was unsuccessful. I accept the position. We understand each other. Sometimes he can help me, sometimes he cannot.
The point I want to emphasize is that I do not think that any population group in the country has a claim to preferential treatment solely because of skin colour. In the same list mention is also made of Mitchell’s Plain, with 160 outstanding applications for ordinary services. Sometimes, particularly when new housing projects are tackled, the State is blamed for the fact that there is perhaps a lack of co-ordination between the various departments that must furnish services there. Perhaps that is also the case in this instance. I think we should guard against large communities being built up and established completely from scratch when they may have to do without certain basic services that are taken for granted these days—for example, public transport and telephone services—for a relatively long period. I note that in the estimates of capital expenditure mention is made of the estimated cost of an automatic exchange for Mitchell’s Plain but that the whole project, totalling R450 000, will only come up for discussion at a later stage.
Before I go any further I want to associate myself with those who have already expressed their thanks and appreciation to the hon. the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications and to all the officials of the department, not only for the Budget, but also for the fine year’s programme they have just completed, a programme we have been given an account of in their well-prepared annual report.
The hon. member for Albany also referred to the electronic dialling system about which I should also like to exchange a few ideas. The annual report mentions the fact that a small type of electronic exchange, the CP24, was put into use in Pretoria in October and that five more will be installed in the present financial year. It is also mentioned that the first complex computer-controlled electronic exchange, the CP44, will be delivered during 1978. In his speech the hon. the Minister spoke about the CP24, mentioning that there had been a delay as a result of which all the proposed systems had not yet been put into service. Since neither of the budgets refer specifically to this equipment, nor to the replacement of certain equipment in the automatic trunk-line exchanges by electronic processors—262 of which have already been ordered, with 19 already in use—I wonder whether the hon. the Minister does not want to lift the veil slightly more in connection with the progress and expectations in that regard. Since it is the kind of equipment that will have to bear the full load in future, and since we have been hoping for a long time that electronics would quickly be the accepted recipe—for the post office too—we should like to know whether those already in use— the CP24 and the small electronic processors—are working satisfactorily, whether there is a measurable improvement in comparison with the traditional equipment and whether all new automatic telephone exchanges are now going to be equipped with this electronic apparatus.
The hon. the Minister, it is true, did mention the saving in labour as far as these new exchanges are concerned. We should also like to have a little more information about that, if possible. As far as the mail-sorting machines are concerned—another hon. member also referred to that—let me just say that we are living in a mechanical age and therefore mail-sorting machines are not merely an interesting and complex development; in the times we live in they are actually very up to date. They are also a necessity. The mail-sorting machines apparently work very well as long as there are no hitches, in other words as long as the postal items are of a standard format and as long as the postal code appears on every postal item. All those requirements are fairly easily met. Requirements in connection with the size, weight and addressing of postal items are requirements that can be met. However, there is a problem. The mail-sorting machines are delicate instruments that can easily be damaged. We have, on occasion, been informed that the traditional pin, paper clip and staple that are in general use to attach various loose items to one another in the same envelope should not be used because this can damage the sorting machines. As far as I know there is, as yet, no local substitute for them. I therefore wonder whether the Post Office itself could not do a bit of research, or have a bit of research done, to find substitutes for those articles. To simply place documents and papers loosely in a envelope is not an acceptable solution. Some of the pages are continually lost.
Another matter I should like to exchange a few ideas about is advertising. In the estimates of operating expenditure it is indicated under a separate head. The amount budgeted for is almost double the previous amount in respect of advertising for savings bank services. The amount of R12 000 is now being increased to R22 000 in the new budget. In the advertising world it is a tried and trusted principle that one must spend money in order to make money. The increasing public support for the Post Office’s savings bank services is already proof of that fact, and we would like to see what the effect will be of the greater expenditure on advertising in this connection. If we take note of the estimates of capital expenditure and the sources of financing involved, we see that the savings bank services are expected to furnish R120 million, i.e. 45% of the total capital expenditure. This fact emphasizes the already familiar thrift of the people, particularly the small depositors. The depositor has confidence in the Post Office as a secure field of investment, and it appears to me as if the hon. the Minister, in turn, has confidence in the sound judgment of the depositors. That is why he seeks to obtain so large a portion of his capital needs from this source. I hope he will get even more than he envisages in his budget. I also want to put forward a few random ideas about telephone directories. The printing costs of the 16 telephone directories has increased considerably, in spite of the saving of R600 000 per year on the printing costs for the Durban and Pretoria telephone directories, an aspect mentioned in the annual report. R6 million has been voted for that in the 1976-’77 financial year. That is for the printing costs of telephone directories. On the same expenditure item provision is being made for an amount of R7,1 million in the new budget. There is consequently an increase of 16,5%.
The official, or officials, who must decide on the covers for the telephone directories must be congratulated, in my opinion, on their good taste. Hon. members are welcome to have a look in our own small post office here where all the telephone directories can be found. One is really impressed by the very attractive appearance of the telephone directories and by the good taste to which these directories attest. Let me refer, for example, to the telephone directory for the Western and Southern Cape for 1976-’77. This telephone directory has an exceptionally attractive cover. There is a photo of Melkbaai in the main town in my constituency, a popular and well-known bathing spot in the Strand, on the False Bay coast In the background one can see the Hottentots-Holland mountains at Gordon’s Bay. It is really a beautiful photograph and does justice to the relevant bathing spot and to the two towns, Gordon’s Bay and the Strand. I therefore wonder whether—to save a bit on costs when telephone directories are printed—the same cover cannot simply be used for quite a few years. [Interjections.] I am sure the Strand municipality will have no objections. If they do object, I should like to help the department to persuade them to oblige. Another way in which this expenditure, i.e. on the printing costs of our telephone directories, can be slightly reduced is by increasing the cost of advertising in the directories. The private sector would no doubt be prepared to help the public sector since the needs of the relevant public sector, i.e. the Post Office, have changed and conditions have become more difficult. The advertisement on the back page of this directory I have here—I have not looked through all the directories, but I am almost sure that company advertises in all of them—is an advertisement for one of Dr. Wassenaar’s undertakings. The advertisement states that with the relevant undertaking’s “help your provision for the future can keep pace with your needs” and that members of the public should call them. The advertisement also states that that undertaking gives one of their very best. Surely the department’s needs change from time to time, and if our needs change to such an extent that we need to obtain more revenue from advertising rates, I take it that that specific division of the private sector will surely not object to paying a little more for their advertisements in the public sector’s publications.
I take it that Dr. Wassenaar will perhaps be eager to help, as he promises in his advertisement. I think one should take him at his word and say: “Very well, we rely on the truth of your undertaking in this advertisement.” In another advertisement that undertaking states that they are people who understand and give us of their best. If the hon. the Minister wants the telephone number of the nearest office of that undertaking, I can give it to him. I take it that it is no problem for the department to dial telephonically!
Speaking of the Strand, many Post Office officials retire there. Those who have been on retirement for a long time now, for example since before 1973, are having a very difficult time of it. They tell me that they have a problem, i.e. when they look to the Minister of Social Welfare and Pensions, all they see is the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications. I have no advice to give them on that problem of theirs, except to ask whether the hon. the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications would not recommend to the Minister of Social Welfare and Pensions that those long-retired Post Office officials get a special allowance like the one the Railway pensioners obtained last year. The Post Office pensioners would be eternally grateful to the Minister if he would make such a recommendation.
There are a number of officials presently employed by the Department, however, who have a somewhat different problem. I am referring to the officials who have only one half day per month off. Apparently at large post offices the staff can, to a certain extent, do duty for one another and sometimes have a Saturday free, but some offices are manned by only one person. He must work six days a week and gets only half a day per month off. Other smaller offices probably also have the same problem. Housewives and mothers employed in those posts find it a particular problem to manage their housekeeping because, with the existing system, they have no time to do their shopping. If the problem cannot be solved by appointing additional relief staff, I wonder whether the offices cannot be closed on two Saturdays each month, particularly in the case of one-man offices. Members of the public who regularly use the offices would be sympathetically disposed to such a step because they appreciate those peoples’ difficulties and, in particular, because they usually know the officials concerned very well.
Another aspect which I think deserves a little attention is the question of overtime. Provision is also made for that in the budget Last year R22 million was needed for that item, and this year the amount is being increased to R23 million. Since 1973 the expenditure has gradually increased from R17 million to R23 million for the next financial year. That R23 million represents 9% of the total amount budgeted for salaries, wages and allowances, i.e. R248,786 million. At the present time, with the scarcity of money and the high cost of living, the majority of departmental employees would no doubt be glad to add an average of 9% to their salaries by way of overtime earnings. In practice, however, the percentage is no doubt considerably higher because not all people can work overtime. As we have heard here today, some people work a tremendous number of hours overtime without additional remuneration. I accept the fact that it is, in fact, chiefly key officials who work overtime, and then particularly in categories where there are probably staff shortages. They are therefore probably employees who are not motivated by thoughts of higher earnings but who work overtime because the work must be done and there are insufficient people to do it. With such motivation the productivity of overtime labour has no doubt become a problem. Although one can express only one’s thanks and appreciation to those officials who are prepared to furnish that extra service, I believe that the department itself would like to keep that expenditure item as low as possible and preferably see a decreasing figure. This could probably only be achieved by doing three things: Firstly, by training more people, secondly by recruiting more people and thirdly by the better utilization of available labour. The selection tests that have had to be done by beginners since 1975 is a worth-while development and attests to competent management ability. It is no doubt desirable for all the staff to do those tests, in the course of time, so that there can be the maximum utilization of every person to the benefit of the department and certainly to the benefit and to the greater satisfaction of the officials themselves. In a large economic set-up, as in the case of this department, there is no reason why an employee should not be utilized to the limits of his ability. In my estimation it is therefore desirable that not only beginners, but in due course all available staff, should be given the utilization tests. In this connection the work study investigations to promote higher productivity are another guarantee of the good service that department furnishes and will also continue to furnish in the future.
As far as local recruiting is concerned, the annual report states that during 1975-’76 efforts were not equally successful in all areas. With the degree of slackness in the labour market at the moment, the department has no doubt already made use of the opportunity to recruit more workers than in the past, particularly more men. I hope the next annual report will give evidence of satisfaction in that connection. As far as recruiting overseas is concerned, I am glad to learn that the number of trained technicians and electricians recruited for the Post Office has increased from 39 in the previous year to 72. For the financial year there were a total of 96. If we bear in mind the tremendous propaganda against South Africa, and if we remember specifically that a body like the World Council of Churches, by way of its member churches in various countries, is putting pressure on the Governments of those countries to discourage immigration to South Africa, and even to try to stop it, we are grateful for the increase in the number of immigrants who have joined the department. This recruiting effort must certainly continue.
As far as training is concerned, there is apparently no shortage of training facilities and training staff. Those who are recruited, Whites and non-Whites, can be trained. In-service training enjoys a high priority and all those in public life in South Africa no doubt owe the department a great deal of thanks for the fact that so many officers could attend organized lectures on sound human relations. Since the officers of this department must constantly serve the public as a whole, in all its diversity, sound human relations are an extremely important aspect of our national life. I am glad that in this department it has been possible to make time for guidance in that connection. As far as another aspect of the staff situation is concerned, in the estimates of operating expenditure I note that at present 6 452 Coloureds, 1 195 Asians, 19 310 Bantu and 43 941 Whites are employed. In other words, the Post Office remains a very important employer for our White community. One is also grateful for that fact.
Hopefully the 19 310 Black workers are chiefly scattered over the Eastern Cape—in the vicinity of Peddie, etc.— and the other provinces. I take it that in the Western Cape it is the department’s policy to replace Black labour with Brown labour at the quickest possible rate. Prof. Sadie of Stellenbosch recently predicted that by the year 1980 there would not be enough work for the Coloureds here in the Western Cape. In fact, if all the Coloureds who are not working at all at the moment and who are not, economically speaking, fully active, decide to take up regular employment, we shall need virtually no Black labour in the Western Cape; not in this department or anywhere else.
In connection with philately I want to say at once that I personally am no authority on this section, but because a member of my family is interested and frequently has to get first-day covers, etc., I am glad to read in the annual report of the achievements in this sphere. For the record I just want to point out that there was an increase of 25% in stamp sales to foreign stamp agents. As hated as this little country is, in my opinion this is a very fine achievement. A second very fine achievement is the fact that our postage stamp designs have been mentioned in foreign technical journals and the fact that our stamps are held up as a model to postal services in other parts of the world.
In 1975 our 15 cent stamp, depicting a lion and a lioness, was singled out as the most beautiful stamp in the world. In my view that is also a fine achievement and very favour able propaganda that South Africa has been able to make with so small an item as a stamp.
An hon. member on that side of the House referred to the provision of telephones. Before I heard the latest figures this afternoon, I also made a few enquiries into the matter. On 31 March there were 2 110 397 telephones in use and 93 480 applications on the waiting list. In other words, the total demand was for 2 203 877. It is apparent that 95,7% of the total demand had been satisfied at that stage. Only 4,3% of the demand had not been satisfied. In the interim there have been an additional 137 000 telephones, i.e. up to the present financial year ending on 31 March, and this afternoon we have noted that there are 80 000 applications on the present waiting list. I have also worked out that percentage and, as I expected, the percentage of outstanding applications dropped to 3,6% during the past financial year. I really do not think we can expect more from any growing and developing country, particularly a country like South Africa where there are such tremendous distances involved. Services are not purposely withheld because services also mean revenue to the department concerned. There is consequently no sense in the department wilfully delaying services or refusing to furnish them because its revenue depends on the services it furnishes. I therefore again want to congratulate the hon. the Minister, his department and all the officials very heartily on the fine work they have done and thank them for it.
Mr. Speaker, I should like to associate myself with the hon. member for False Bay in his request to the hon. the Minister to render assistance to those people who retired on pension prior to 1973. I am very pleased to hear complaints in this regard coming from that side of the House too. I am sorry that the hon. member for False Bay failed to understand the criticism of the hon. member for Wynberg, but I shall leave the matter at that.
†Mr. Speaker, I have pleasure in supporting the amendment moved by the hon. member for Wynberg. I think it is a very clever amendment and not a critical one. I am sure the hon. the Minister has not taken offence at the amendment, but will concede that it has been very wisely worded. We are not criticizing the Postmaster-General or his staff for their achievements. As a matter of fact, we recognize it and praise them for it, but we feel a lot more can still be done in regard to the supply services for which people are paying today. We appreciate their achievements and have no doubt that they will maintain and improve on their record. In saying this I also acknowledge the unhappiness of the Post Office staff. I have here a magazine which we all get, The Postal and Telegraph Herald. I do not know who prints or edits it, but the latest one we received is dated February 1976, on the cover, but the contents refer to 1977. The editorial deals to a great extent with the lot of the postal worker and with his struggle to make ends meet. The editorial is entitled: “The Silver Lining to the Dark Cloud” and says that nobody can accuse officials of the State of disloyalty. They go on to say that although they are not paid their rightful share, they carry on with their work. We also feel that this is the case. The Post Office has made a wonderful contribution. This budget would not be what it is had it not been for the efforts of the postal worker. We agree wholeheartedly with what is said in this editorial. “We are in favour of higher and better production, of doing more with fewer workers and of being self-supporting. We also believe in less play and more work, but we do believe that the labourer is worthy of his hire.” There I would like to leave the matter. We are not recommending that any pay increases should be given to the postal staff at this stage, but we do hope that their efforts will be recognized.
I feel that the budget was based on too much optimism on the part of the hon. the Minister. The hon. the Minister has budgeted for the new financial year on a very optimistic note. He has framed all his figures on an increase in usage of all the services in the post office. The hon. the Minister has for instance calculated that he will receive an extra R46 million on telecommunications services. He also hopes that there will be an increase in savings by the public. As a matter of fact, the hon. the Minister relies on financing this new budget by means of on-call moneys in savings accounts. I hope that the hon. the Minister is not going to be disappointed, as we can easily find a deepening of the depression that we are now in. There may be a cut-back in telephone services and I know many families who are now restricting telephone calls, particularly trunk calls, and this big profit under telecommunications services may not be realized. There may not be the continued savings in the savings bank. As a matter of fact, there may be withdrawals in the near future. I want to ask the hon. the Minister whether this is going to be the signal for the increased tariffs he has promised us, or which he has said are coming. If it is, he may as well give notice now of the increased tariffs because I cannot see any relief from the gloom.
Before socking the poor old taxpayer I would like to comment on what I consider to be the most unbusinesslike way in which the Post Office transacts its own business. I am open to correction, but I would imagine that most of the work of the postal service is devoted to doing agency work, namely work for other Government departments. When one thinks of the amount of work that is involved just in paying old-age pensions, one realizes what a lot of work is loaded onto the Post Office. There is also the work done on behalf of the S.A. Broadcasting Corporation. There is a long list of agency services rendered by the Post Office on page 58 of the annual report. Work is undertaken on behalf of the S.A. Railways, such as the paying out of pensions and the collection of wharfage. Work is also undertaken on behalf of the Treasury such as the sale of savings certificates and premium bonds. Work is also undertaken for the Provincial Administration and the Department of Inland Revenue such as the sale of revenue stamps. Work is also undertaken for the Department of Customs and Excise and even for the Department of Community Development. According to the information on page 58, the staggering sum of R228 269 233 is collected by the Post Office and an amount of R257 995 591 is paid out, the total amount involved therefore being R486 264 824, which is the total amount handled by the Post Office in respect of agency services. What is the return for doing all this work? According to the estimates that we have received today, the total amount that it is estimated that the Post Office will receive for the agency services is R2 751 000. The Post Office is therefore receiving R2 751 000 for handling R486 million. This works out at 0,6%. I want to refer to a speech of the hon. member for Wynberg which was recorded in col. 2907 of Hansard of 19 March 1975, in which he quoted certain information which was furnished to him when he asked the hon. the Minister what was being paid by the departments to the Post Office for the services it renders on an agency basis. On that occasion he gave the following information which is quite laughable—
I can go on and quote the whole lot but this sound ridiculous to me. These services are not being covered. If it was raised by only 1% there would be an extra R2 million in the kitty for the Post Office. If it was raised to 5%, which is the least anybody charges for services of this nature …
Mr. Speaker, may I ask the hon. member a question?
No, I am speaking. I shall answer later on.
†If it was raised to 5%, it would give an extra R24 million to the Post Office, which would make it unnecessary for the hon. the Minister to borrow R28 million, as he has done. I would like to know how many of the Post Office staff are employed in this kind of work. I would like to know whether any estimate has ever been made of the actual cost to the Post Office of doing this work. It would be a large job, but I am sure that it would yield a very worthwhile result. I would like to know whether this kind of thing is the result of an agreement that the Post Office reached some years ago to preserve its autonomy, because if it is, the price is far too high. I believe that the work that the Post Office is handling, can only increase. It will become more and more each year, as there will be more pensioners, and as the economy grows, so will this work grow from year to year. Instead of hitting the taxpayer, as the hon. the Minister intends doing soon, I suggest that he should hit the employer instead of the customer. He should not ask the customer for more money to pay for these costs.
It is heartening to read of the increased use by the public of the Savings Bank. It is a well-deserved increase and a well-supported cause. I feel that its success is attributable to the very excellent terms offered, and the very efficient way in which it is handled. I am surprised to see that the total investment in the Post Office Savings Bank is only about 2% of the total invested in building societies. The building societies have always complained that the Post Office is competing with them, but they really do not have a case. It is only a small proportion of the total savings market. By the same token, I feel that the Post Office can treat its customers better. If people wish to support the Post Office and to invest their money there, I feel that they should receive better consideration. The Post Office should consider giving them better facilities. I have spoken about this before, but I wish to speak about it again. First of all there is the way in which money is deposited or withdrawn. Surely a far simpler method can be devised than the one that is used now. The forms that one has to fill in, are a problem to most people. A much simpler form can be evolved, something along the lines of the building society forms. There should be less restriction on the amounts that can be withdrawn. Perhaps the new computerized system may make this possible. The limiting of people to small amounts does not make sense to me. I also wish to ask the hon. the Minister whether the Post Office would not consider accepting cheques as deposits, without charging commission on the cheques. After all, building societies do not charge commission on cheques deposited with them and I cannot see why the Post Office should continue to charge commission on those cheques. I also feel that more privacy should be afforded to people who come to the Post Office to withdraw money or to deposit money. Why should they do it in the open, in front of every Dick, Tom and Harry? Why cannot they be afforded a little privacy, as one finds in the building societies?
In Postel, the newspaper of the Post Office, I see that very interesting and very valuable work is being done in the Post Office laboratories in Pretoria. I hope that we, and in particular the Post Office group, will be afforded the opportunity to visit these laboratories in the near future, even before they move to the new buildings due for construction at Derdepoort. I wish to congratulate the Post Office for what they have achieved there. They have made some remarkable achievements. Apparently millions of rand have been saved through research undertaken by the Post Office laboratories. They have done some very valuable work and have achieved some staggering results. For instance, the development of a microcomputer to make a record of traffic measurements automatically, seem to be a remarkable invention. They have also invented a trunk-barring circuit which will cut out unnecessary trunk-calls. This is something that will be welcomed by most employers, as, by the use of this instrument, it will be impossible for staff to put trunk-calls through on their employers’ telephones. I think that this is a very worthwhile discovery.
I also welcome the research being undertaken as regards new telephone instruments. I have found that the noise made by the new instrument is most disconcerting as it is very difficult to locate and very hard to hear. I notice that a better bell is envisaged. I also notice that faster dialling is envisaged, which will be a vast improvement on the present system. A great deal has been done, but I would suggest that even more can be done in the field of research in the Post Office. I wonder whether, for instance, research can be done to find out why a parcel never arrives whole at its destination. I do not know whether it is a coincidence, but whenever I receive biltong in a parcel, all I get is the paper and the string! The Post Office may say that the parcels are not being properly packed, but if the parcel is not properly packed, I feel that it is for the postal official to refuse to accept that parcel. The consignee is the loser in every case as he does not receive the parcel whole, but damaged, and sometimes does not even receive the contents of the parcel. I feel that some research should be done in this field. Now that computerization seems to be the fashion, I would also like to ask whether it is not possible for a computer system to be devised whereby one can get a telephone number directly by dialling and paying for it. I think that the greatest problem that faces the telephone user who has to telephone from a booth, is that there is never a telephone directory available. For this reason it is impossible to discover a number. I was in Durban this very week-end, and I wanted to phone Margate. I was staying at one of the leading hotels in Durban, and I could not discover what the number was of the place in Margate that I wanted to phone. All they had at this hotel was the existing telephone directory, but Margate has since then gone automatic, and nobody knew what the automatic telephone number for Margate was.
Where is Margate?
I do not care where Margate is, but I know that it has since received an automatic exchange. A problem is that nobody will know the Margate numbers until the new telephone directory is published. The other alternative is to dial inquiries and ask them for the number. It took me 20 minutes to get the number. If this is computerized, I am certain people will be only too willing to dial to find the numbers they need.
The hon. member for False Bay spoke about telephone directories. I find that at my age, which is probably a very decrepit old age
Never!
… I have the greatest difficulty reading the telephone directory. The print is very small and the paper used is of poor quality. All in all, the telephone directory is very difficult to use.
That quality paper is no good for anything.
With regard to telephone booths, I would suggest to the hon. the Minister that there is only one cure for the damage done to those booths by vandals. I feel that a substantial reward should be offered to anyone who gives information leading to a successful prosecution of one of the people who are responsible for destroying telephone booths. It is the greatest nuisance in the world not to be able to use a telephone, and this vandalism is also a terrific expense for the Post Office.
In conclusion I should also like to refer to philately, which was also referred to by the hon. member for False Bay. Philately, as we know, is a most important revenue-earning branch of the Post Office. I should like to congratulate the Post Office and the hon. the Minister for what has been achieved by the philatelic division of the Post Office. That service not only caters for stamp collectors, but it also evokes great interest amongst children, as one can see by the growing number of people who have now become collectors. It is achieving a great object in educating our youngsters and it is also acting as a wonderful medium of advertising for South Africa. Furthermore, it is a wonderful tourist attraction and also promotes South African art. South African artists must be very grateful to the hon. the Minister for the commissions they have earned in designing postage stamps, particularly some of the very beautiful and artistic stamps which have been referred to by the hon. member for False Bay.
Finally, I should like to make this one point: The South African Philatelic Congress asked the hon. the Minister if it would not be possible to arrange for a mobile display unit of the stamps being sold by the Post Office. It would be something similar to a mobile post office and it could tour South Africa advertising the stamps being sold by the Post Office.
Business interrupted in accordance with Standing Order No. 75.
Mr. Speaker, never in all my years of experience have I come across a more confused thinking amongst members of the Opposition than there was today. Speakers who were supposed to agree on certain matters put forward completely conflicting standpoints. The chief spokesman for the Opposition, the hon. member for Wynberg, adopted the standpoint that this budget is better than last year’s. The hon. member for South Coast said the budget is based on a far too optimistic premise. If one listened closely to what was said here by the various speakers, one was struck by the fact that more numerous and better facilities were being advocated on the one hand—this was the tone Opposition speakers adopted throughout—whilst on the other hand, an amendment was moved to the affect that the services were inadequate and that for that reason they would vote against the budget.
That confused thinking focuses some light on the reason why the amendment was moved. It is as plain as a pikestaff to me that the amendment was moved at the inspiration of the hon. member for Wynberg who expected me to introduce increased tariffs today. That is the reason for the present wording of the amendment. When, to his consternation, he discovered that I was not increasing the tariffs, he veered around and attacked me because the Second Reading debate had to be conducted immediately after I had made my budget speech. Although the hon. member for Parktown has already said it, I want to tell the hon. member for Wynberg once again that, as is the case with the arrangements for all debates, the arrangements for this debate are in the hands of the Whips. Once the Whips have arranged how the debate is to be conducted, he and I have to comply with those arrangements.
No, not at all. I object to that.
It is not for him and me to prearrange such matters. This matter was discussed by the Whips with the Leader of the House and I was informed that the discussion of the budget would follow directly upon my budget speech. Consequently I have nothing to do with this course of events. To my way of thinking the explanation lies in the fact that the hon. member for Wynberg expected tariff increases to be announced. When this did not happen, he attempted to get out of it by making this attack on me. However, let us just leave that aspect there.
We can leave it there, but what you have said is incorrect.
As I have said, we have had some chopping and changing in the debate. On the one hand, Opposition speakers really found very little to criticize in the budget. On various sides appreciation was expressed for what the Post Office is doing under prevailing conditions. Indeed, there were few speakers who did not refer to some or other matter they agreed with or were pleased to have noted. On the other hand, there was criticism that not enough was being done and the allegation that we ought to do much better. As I have said, there was this chopping and changing: more numerous and better facilities on the one hand and a restriction on the means necessary for this on the other. Let us just take a look at this matter. The hon. member for Wynberg said that greater satisfaction ought to be the principal aim of the Post Office.
The Post Office must give greater satisfaction by providing a better service. I agree wholeheartedly with the hon. member. This is precisely what the Post Office has been striving to do down the years and what it has succeeded in doing with great distinction during the past few years. Let me ask whether all the data I have furnished today in my budget speech, and all the data that appears in the annual report, is not proof that the Post Office has made tremendous progress in its efforts to give greater satisfaction by way of better service. On the other hand, what is the Opposition doing? They complain about postal deliveries. They say there ought to be more frequent deliveries; the mail should be collected and postboxes cleared more often but the Post Office must not try to find more money for providing that service because then it would mean possible Post Office tariff increases. They ask us to instwll new telephones more quickly, even in areas where development is taking place at a tremendous rate. They want more other services introduced and provided more quickly. There have also been complaints about the possible closing of certain post offices. It is very easy to do all these things that have been asked for if one has the money.
I now come to the important point which the hon. member for Wynberg has already discussed, namely the financing of the budget. Once again, as he did last year, he is asking that the Post Office be financed to a greater extent by way of loans. I think the hon. member for Sunnyside has replied very effectively to that point. It is not our policy, nor is it a sound business principle, to run business entirely on borrowed money. We must ensure, and this is in complete agreement with the guidelines accepted by the Government at the recommendation of the Franzsen commission, that we keep the ratio as near as possible to 50% from loan capital and 50% generated by the industry itself.
Since this is our point of departure, I say we have put paid to this hon. member’s standpoint, and I want to tell him that if this is taken into account, allowance must be made for the fact that the means are also limited and that consequently one cannot simply go on maintaining and expanding unprofitable services that one knows in one’s heart of hearts cannot bring in a reasonable amount of revenue, or even go beyond one’s means to provide services for which there is still only a limited demand. That is my reason for saying that the hon. members of the Opposition were not completely fair in their approach to the Post Office. They certainly showed very little appreciation, as the hon. member for Rustenburg said, for the numerous and extensive achievements in the past year. They were actually so obsessed with the problems they were having with the Post Office in their constituencies or in their personal lives that they only criticized those aspects and lost sight of all the other fine, great and important things that have already been done and are still envisaged.
The debate in general testified to the fact that the Post Office’s affairs have been managed very well and efficiently during the past year and that great achievements have been made. The hon. member for Umhlanga took pleasure in quoting the words of the Postmaster-General in order to convince me that the Post Office’s services are not what they ought to be. It is not necessary to quote the Postmaster-General’s words for that purpose; I already know that, and we are not keeping quiet about it either. It is a fact that the service is far from perfect, that many more achievements lie ahead, that there are many things to strive for and that there is a great deal of progress still to be made. Having said that, however, let me add that we may not disregard the fact that we have already made tremendous progress towards the things we have in mind. I do not think the hon. members have always kept that in mind. I want to be honest and say that I conscientiously believe that the Post Office is being well and judiciously managed and that the staff are exceptionally dedicated because they are inspired by the leadership of the Postmaster-General and those who, together with him, go to make up the top management of the Post Office. I do not want to claim any of the credit for this because it is not a process that can get off the ground in any short space of time.
In accordance with Standing Order No. 22, the House adjourned at