Post office letting us down

Robert Hill, George:

It is completely unacceptable that the main post office of George has been closed for nearly a month. Even with the start of Level 3 lockdown on 1 June, it remains closed, with a notice on the door stating that it is closed "due to COVID-19 regulations".

However, the post office seems to have no problem being open for Sassa payouts, and I am willing to bet that it will again be open this month for grant payments, and then it will close again.

I have also heard that none of the post in George has been sorted since lockdown began, and is sitting at the mail depot at the George Industria post office. This is a disgrace, especially during this time when many students need study material delivered, and people are waiting for their accounts, letters or packages. How can anybody rely on the postal service if it remains closed for so long? Private courier companies are working again at full steam delivering packages, but the post office does not seem to care. It is difficult to convince myself that the post office remains relevant in 2020 if our main post office in George is closed for a whole month and without one postal delivery. There is more risk for any infection on days when social grants are paid out, due to the volume of people at the post office, so I do not see any reason why the post office cannot be open as per usual, when there are much shorter queues.

This letter was sent to Emma Tshatsinde and Johan Kruger of the SA Post Office's communications office for comment, but at the time of going to print nothing was received. If received, we will publish their comment online or in the next edition.Ed