Sad decline of SA’s post offices
THE sorry state our post offices (POs) find themselves in is testament to reckless, careless, and negligent management of this SOE.
What was once a reliable mail service has now become a paying office for grants and pensions for the state. The staff at some of these POs sit idle because of the unreliability of this service provider. Is it necessary for the private sector to get involved and take over the role of the POs, whose purpose it is, and was, to serve and deliver mail?
I wish to highlight the Gatesville PO in particular because this is the one I frequent the most. It is an eyesore if you have to look at the infrastructure – vagrants loiter and sleep on the stoep, the post boxes on the outside of the building are behind locked gates, which means you don’t have access to your box, weeds have overtaken the entrance to the office, the inside is gloomy and dull, the blinds are broken, the staff are inefficient, and it’s just not clean.
It is evident that no investment is being made in the maintainance and upkeep of these offices – either there are no funds available, or management doesn’t give a damn, and just run it into the ground. The computer systems are so poor that they cannot trace a box renewal payment that I make by EFT to their central office, and every time I have to repeatedly provide them with proof of payment – and in this day and age they are still using a hardcover book to record outstanding renewal box payments.
I remember very well back in the 80s and 90s these institutions used to be thriving businesses, they were always a hive of activity, and more so the GPO in Adderley Street.
Today it just a one dull, gloomy, inefficient, ineffective operation that is going down the tubes.
I guess the question we should be asking ourselves is “Is it just a matter of run it into to the ground and create opportunities for tenderpreneurs to fix, or is someone waiting in the wings to snap it up at a discounted price and take it private”, or is it a matter of government interference, inefficiency and a lack of skills to manage a big business?
Either way, when you look at all the SOEs, they have been mismanaged, looted, and their value has been destroyed. What we have inherited pre 1994 is now hanging on for dear survival post 1994.
M PILLAY | Cape Town