While PO plays pass the parcel, must I use a courier?

I ENJOY reading your articles in The Star on Mondays. The Post Office appears to be in trouble again when it comes to delivering parcels.

I ordered items from the US and the parcel, destined for Riverfield in Springs, arrived in South Africa on June 23, 2017 (more than two months ago), according to the tracking record.

It took three weeks to get to Sandton Post Office from the Joburg International mail hub and was then sent to the incorrect post office.

It was returned and, again incorrectly, routed to OR Tambo, who again routed it back to the international mail hub, where it has been sitting for nearly five weeks since July 28.

I contacted the Post Office call centre on August 24. After waiting for 20 minutes, an agent answered and blamed a high call volume on the amount of complaints similar to mine.

The agent mentioned that they had a large backlog and could not tell me when I could expect my parcel.

I had also e-mailed the customer service centre. The first response told me where the parcel was, which I already knew.

Again I e-mailed them to query the status. No response. I resent the e-mail a while later. Still no response.

How can I contact the Post Office management or an ombudsman to raise my concerns? If the post office cannot manage one of its core competencies – delivering parcels – how would they manage the Sassa payments, should they get the business?

At which stage do I report the parcel as lost to the retailer and request them to resend it, using a courier this time?