Post Office fails to pay its rent
Claremont branch one of 29 closed countrywide
THE SOUTH African Post Office (Sapo) is downsizing as it is being forced to close some branches because it can’t pay its rent. Spokeswoman Martie Gilchrist said that the post office was “forced to skip” rental payments at its Claremont branch, resulting in the landlord “illegally locking the premises”.
It’s the second time this month that they’d been locked out.
Gilchrist said the landlord had refused to allow staff into the building or release mail until the parastatal settled its account. This branch has been in operation since 2003.
In its last financial statement, the parastatal showed a net loss of R359 million and Sapo would have to close a number of branches to survive its next financial audit.
The parastatal yesterday confirmed that 29 branches countrywide have been shut because of “cash flow” problems.
Gilchrist said the situation was severely inconveniencing business.
“We are trying to render services at our nearby branches as production at this office is non-existent.”
Staff at the branch were relocated to Kenilworth while frustrated customers were forced to use alternative venues to conduct business.
Gilchrist said: “Incoming parcels are now delivered at Kenilworth Post Office where customers can collect them.”
A local Claremont lawyer, who asked not to be named, said she had commissioned two paintings in Thailand that were to have been mailed to her only to find the Claremont branch locked.
“The day I received the notification that they had arrived I went to collect them and the post office was closed,” she said.
The lawyer told the Cape Argus that in terms of the Postal Services Act 124 of 1998, the landlord potentially committed at least three criminal offences.