MPs across the political spectrum expressed frustration at Rooplal and Damons, who have in the past missed a number of parliamentary meetings where they were supposed to report back on their progress - only now to seek another postponement while requesting a closed-door meeting.
"We must remember that there is a reason these meetings are open to the public," said Democratic Alliance MP Nicolaas Pienaar. "If any plan of Sapo's the South African Post Office is to succeed, it will use public funds. Since we are using public funds - and we are talking about billions of rands here for this business rescue plan - the public needs to know what these funds are proposed to be spent on."
Damons and Rooplal said their new strategy requires confidentiality because it discloses competitor-sensitive intellectual property, among other reasons.
Pienaar argued that if the IP related to the business rescue plan is 'so groundbreaking", the Post Office's legal team would have applied for patents to protect it.
He added that the business rescue practitioners "must not have an over-inflated opinion of themselves", suggesting that whatever solutions they come up with will not involve strategies not already in the public domain.