Could People’s Post try to find out from a high level in the SA Postal Service how long it will take to deliver mail that has accumulated undelivered following the recent postal strike?
A phone call to the Fish Hoek Post Office politely informs one they have no idea how long the mail backlog will take to be overcome, and what procedures are being undertaken to address the problem. For example, are they working backwards from the most recent to the earliest items affected by the strike, or the other way round?
I know of a local letter posted to me on 3 July that has not yet been delivered, and I have a number of letters from family and friends in the UK that have not yet arrived.
It is not good enough that the postal service leave the public and their staff in the dark.
Martie Gilchrist, SA Post Office spokesperson responds: The SA Post Office would like to thank People’s Post for bringing Mr Phelps’s concern to our attention. When the strike was resolved, we had a backlog of 20 work days.
The backlog now stands at 26 days because there was a huge influx of mail from bulk customers once the strike was resolved. We strive to use a system of first in, first out so that the oldest mail is delivered first.
Our international mail has seen a 400% increase in items from abroad compared to a year ago and this is delaying incoming items. In an effort to speed up the processing of incoming post, an additional 40 staff members have been transferred to the Johannesburg International Mail Centre where all incoming post and parcels are delivered to upon arrival into South Africa.
The Post Office understands very well that this is causing considerable inconvenience to its customers and apologises for that.