Going from pillar to post
Sadly it has become clear the South African postal system is unable to fulfill its core function of delivering mail on time and safely. I too am a victim.
I mailed a parcel in August from the US. It was in SA within a few days. But now began the most bizarre journey for the item. It travelled from Johannesburg to East London. From EL to King William’s Town. But then it reversed course back to EL and back to Johannesburg. Then, like a lost fish in an aquarium tank with no sense of direction, it went back to EL, back to King Wil liam’s Town and, after some intervention by a caring worker, it made its way to Peddie. This process took two months.
Just when I thought nothing more could go wrong I spoke to the receiving party, only to find out that what the postal service had delivered was not the book parcel I had mailed. It was an envelope of lesson plans I had mailed some time ago. How this became entangled with the book parcel tracking code is a mystery as is the whereabouts of the books in this mess.
Adding insult to injury, the Post Office charged the recipient customs fees. How do you assess customs fees on what is essentially a letter?
You may wonder why a personal bad experience with the Post Office should matter. Because if it happens to one customer, it can happen to all. Postal delivery is one of the key functions of government because it lies at the heart of our communication and nourishes our common linkages. As people begin to establish their own small and medium businesses and need. Wongaletu Vanda, Email
Simply a mess
I pay my municipal account every month after it is received via my e-mail address.
I have not since 1990 been in arrears nor has any invoice indicated arrears. Yet on 5 November 2018 I received an ‘URGENT NOTICE” dated 18/10/2018 from the BCM Directorate of Finance claiming I was R143-09 in arrears and serving a (14)-Day Pre-Termination Final Notice on my account Nr 00000.
I tried to phone the number 086-111-3017 which was provided as a contact number but nobody answered. No agent has been available in the three days since I received this letter.
I contacted the local DA councillor who assisted and said the office of the Directorate of Finance sends out this notice without checking the resident’s status. The phone number he provided was 043-705-3150, which had a permanent engaged tone.
I went in to the Gonubie BCM Finance pay counter and the clerk told me to ignore the notice as it was sent to many residents in error by somebody unknown in the Directorate.
Is BCM’s Finance Department trying threats of disconnecting services to make residents pay extra? If so, this is theft. This just shows what a mess the BCM Directorate of Finance is.
Roelf, Gonubie
Get corrupt out
The reports in the past two days (DD, November 7, “Councillors storm out of BCM meeting” and November 8, “Anger at R1m for Music Awards”) of the proceedings of the recent BCM sponsorship committee meeting look like they are exposing backroom deals dressed up as generous sponsor ship provided by BCM to deserving causes.
The concern that “the municipality insists on giving the same companies huge amounts of money … it’s the same every year” goes to the heart of patronage and deals for mates which lies at the centre of corruption being exposed for all to see in the Zondo Commission.
It is disappointing, if not surprising, that the same sort of behaviour seems to be pursued by the ANC-led BCM. It reminds one of the exposé of looting recorded by Crispian Olver in his book “How to Steal a City”.
The Koko Godlo who is recommended to receive an additional R750,000 is the same person who, over the years (reported in the Dispatch in 2015 and 2016), has been under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit for allegedly conducting fraudulent boxing tournaments and other “ghost” events. While the DA can try to hold the ANC to account, there is no stopping corruption if there are no consequences. The ultimate sanction that the people can employ is to remove the corrupt from office and install a government that will practise clean administration.
Vash Ramsunder, Woodleigh
Note to Writers
Adding insult to injury, the Post Office charged the recipient customs fees. How do you assess customs fees on what is essentially a letter?