All right, Chairperson. The provision of postal and financial services to South Africans should be affordable and accessible to all South Africans, as my colleagues have said.

The alignment of the Post Office mandate with supporting government programmes such as entrepreneurial development, with a major focus on the empowerment of women entrepreneurs, should be central.

Rural development through the rolling out of household postal addresses to people who do not have addresses should continue, but not at the expense of the Post Office's losing revenue.

We call on the Minister to work towards ensuring continued government support in order to address the mandate, and that this be supported by a subsidy for post office operations. With more than 2 400 postal outlets, the penetration of post office services is felt in communities, particularly in rural areas where other service providers are not accessible at all.

The Post Office promotes a culture of saving through a bank, which contributes to economic and social upliftment and the creation of decent work, as well as the financial sustainability of the country.

In order to bring about stability in the sector, the department and the unions need to work together to resolve issues around labour practices which tend to impact negatively on the revenues of the Post Office.

The postal sector and the Post Office should develop innovative ways to create job opportunities. We also urge government departments to make use of the Post Office as it is government-funded and a government-owned entity. We also urge the Departments of Education and of Communications ... [Time expired.] We support the Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]