State-owned bank making a R5.23 million loss wants a R2.5 billion bailout from the government

• Postbank has submitted a request to the National Treasury for a R2.5 billion injection, which it needs to transition into a fully licensed, state-owned commercial bank.
• This request comes as Postbank continues to seek financial stabilisation, with the 2025/26 fiscal year showing another loss for the state-owned bank. Postbank reported a net loss after tax of R5.23 million for 2025/26, but claimed this would have been a R42 million profit before tax were it not for a R44 million SARS interest charge.
• The R2.5 billion funding request is split into two “pools”: R500 million will fund capital and IT infrastructure, while R1.75 billion will be used to meet commercial banking standards and finalise its long-delayed banking licence application.