Johannesburg - Customers have been left frustrated and unable to access their mail at the Bryanston post office for months.
Unpaid rent led the exasperated landlord to ground operations after the account went into arrears; two months on, customers were still unable to access their parcels and mail.
Among the irate customers was Craig Anderson, who mentioned another incident earlier this year when he got his mail late as the electricity had been cut off due to non-payment.
“I order books from the UK, but have been unable to get them. Every time I went last month, the doors were closed with staff telling us they were unable to sort post because there was no electricity. Then last week, we found the doors locked with no staff on the premises,” he said.
Post office spokesman Khulani Qoma admitted the closure was due to rental in arrears.
“However, our customers are able to transact at the Bryanston West post office. If the situation changes, we will immediately update you,” he said.
Qoma said mail had been redirected to the Bryanston West post office.
But Anderson disputed this.
“How do customers even know if there is a parcel when their boxes are inoperative? I tried the Bryanston West post office and was asked by staff there how they could tell people to collect their registered items when they can’t access their boxes,” he said.
The SA Post Office was put under administration last year. Its board resigned in November after a months-long strike.
In October this year, the Post Office only paid its staff 70 percent of their salaries on October 25 and then the balance six days later. On October 30, the board, together with the Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Siyabonga Cwele, appointed Trevor Ndlazi as acting group chief executive for three months while searching for a new group chief executive.
“The stabilisation of leadership at the SA Post Office, as driven by the board of directors and the minister, is progressing well,” said Simo Lushaba, chairman of the board.
Call the Bryanston West post office at 011 463 2177.
The Star