MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A complaint was received this week by Mossel Bay Advertiser about the post office in Marsh Street in town.
The woman who complained preferred to remain anonymous.
She said she had heard there were more than 50 bags of post at the post office in Marsh Street, that were unsorted. She noted: "There are many elderly people in Mossel Bay who are not receiving their pension and insurance statements because the post is not being delivered to them.
Elderly
"Many elderly people do not have laptops or email addresses and are reliant on the post."
She added: "Some insurance companies and pension companies still send out statements by post. These, especially those sent from overseas, sometimes only arrive in the post three months after the date on the statement."
She pointed out that there were some Mossel Bay residents with UK pensions or insurance policies.
'One person'
The woman said that when one goes into the Marsh Street post office, often there is only one person on duty, serving the public, and she asked why this was so.
She complained that she called the post office and the phone rang, unanswered.
The Advertiser also called the Post Office twice this week and the phone rang, unanswered.
Because the Post Office crisis is a national issue, the Advertiser enquired to the national spokesperson as to what the latest news is on the Post Office.
Business rescue
A statement was received, noting: "The Post Office was placed into business rescue on 10 July 2023 as a result of its dire financial position and consequent operational issues."
The statement was sent by Louise Brugman, on behalf of the Post Office Business Rescue Practitioners.
It noted: "The Post Office has a unique social mandate in SA and must provide key basic communication and financial services to all households including the rural areas, where access to Wi-Fi, smart phones and printers are not a given.
"The Business Rescue Practitioners believe the SA Post Office can again play this unique role in South Africa. It can be an efficient postal service provider and a lifeline for many underprivileged South Africans, offering affordable access to vital communication and financial services in their communities.
"The team is very aware of many issues that pervade the Post Office.
"Teams of staff are working hard on many aspects to elevate the Post Office.
Mossel Bay branch
"With regards to the Mossel Bay office, the current mail is being sorted and is already prepared for delivery this week.
"There is not a full complement of posties for the designated areas, but the posties that are on duty are committed and working hard to deliver all of the mail as soon as they can.
"Due to the financial and consequent operational constraints that the post office has, we ask that customers be patient as the team in Mossel Bay works to rectify any delays that customers may be experiencing."
Plan
The statement read: "The business rescue plan adopted in December 2023, aims to stabilise the company, restore it to solvency and enable the SA Post Office to operate sustainably as a going concern without total reliance on government funding in the future."
The Post Office claimed that since business rescue on 10 July 2023, three key stabilisation results had been actioned over the past year:
- Successful retrenchment of 4 512 people through a section 189 process, after 60 days, plus a CCMA-run negotiation process. The Post Office has consequently saved on salary costs.
- Branch rationalisation. The team has closed 218 branches of the required 284. All 284 will be closed by the end of July. Again, there will be cost savings to the bottom line.
- Creditors were paid 12 cents of each rand at the end of March 2024.
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