Resident takes action to clean Mossel Bay Post Office

MOSSLE BAY NEWS - The Mossel Bay Post Office in Marsh Street is currently in the process of undergoing a deep-clean and an upgrade thanks to the owner of a local cleaning business, Werner Neuhoff.

With the help of his wife and two kids, as well as his parents and other members of the Mossel Bay community, he has been working tirelessly since Sunday 8 March to bring a shine back to the post office.

Neuhoff told Mossel Bay Advertiser that after seeing many complaints on Facebook about the poor state of the post office, he decided to approach the building’s manager and ask if he could clean it himself, free of charge.

“I was in the process of building a new business and bought some equipment I hadn’t used before, and thought it would be the ideal opportunity to test all of it,” he said.

However, Neuhoff only received permission to clean the outside of the building, which disappointed him.

“The windows were still dirty inside, and I thought the public would think I am in the cleaning business, but only do half jobs. So I proceeded to clean the inside as well,” he said.

The project soon involved others in the Mossel Bay community. Neuhoff told the Advertiser that within a week, his post sharing the project had garnered 100 000 hits on Facebook.

“Handymen, electricians, builders, glass repair companies, pest control and other citizens started organising all sorts of things. Donations to buy building material to fix the roof were also made so the pigeons can’t enter the building anymore,” he said.

The team uses telescopic brooms that can extend up to 12m from where its user stands, as well as industrial wet and dry vacuum cleaners.

In addition, a 150-bar high-pressure cleaner and a surface cleaner for the exterior paving also came in handy.

Neuhoff says as a proud Mossel Bay resident of almost 20 years, he would absolutely continue maintaining the post office in the future.

“The response I received from the public, the residents - it has just been short of a miracle. I am blown away. Just goes to show what can happen when a community stands together.”

The Advertiser previously reported on the poor state of the local post office in February.

Several broken and dirty windows, ceiling beams and floors, and post boxes covered with bird faeces as a result of pigeons creating nests in and around the building, were among some of the complaints the Mossel Bay community shared.

The Mossel Bay Post Office is owned by the state, therefore the local municipality is not responsible for the building’s maintenance.

At the time, Louise Brugman, spokesperson for the business rescue practitioners for the South African Post Office (Sapo), told the Advertiser that the post office is still operating, but that the reason for the poor conditions of post offices across the country, not just in Mossel Bay, is mainly due to cash flow constraints.

One of the volunteers working on the doors of the post office building. Photo: Werner Neuhoff