Employees at two Gqeberha post offices are unable to renew licenses or complete simple electronic tasks as they have been operating in the dark for months.
The usually bustling Walmer and Linton Grange post offices are operating at a snail’s pace and subsequently adding to the queues at other branches around the Bay.
Residents have to go to the main post office in Govan Mbeki Avenue in North End to renew licences, a major inconvenience for many.
Employees at the Linton and Walmer branches confirmed electricity was disconnected in July and October, respectively.
Since then, residents have been unable to renew their car licence discs, among other things, with services limited only to courier and parcel delivery services.
“Attention customers/clients, we do not do car licence [renewals due to a] ... power problem,” a note plastered on a notice board at the Linton Grange branch reads.
Usually bustling, there were no customers when Weekend Post visited on Friday.
An independent vehicle licensing agent, Tamara Pukwana, who went to the main post office in Govan Mbeki, expressed frustration over the situation.
Accustomed to going to Walmer to attend to the vehicle licensing requirements for the companies she services, Pukwana said she was one of a handful of residents at the post office when workers notified them municipal workers had come to cut the power in October.
“We were inside the post office when they switched off the electricity,” she said.
“We were told we needed to go elsewhere because the municipality was coming.
“We had to pack our bags and leave.
“Until then, I went there every single day.
“But since then, I have had to come to [Govan Mbeki], bypassing even the more convenient Newton Park post office, because there is no longer a motor vehicle licensing machine.”
Olwethu Peta, after being turned away from Walmer last week, said he left his home in Motherwell NU12, to obtain a disc for his vehicle from the main branch.
He said this was problematic.
“It was my first time going to Walmer,” Peta said.
“When I got there, it was dark, but I found a few people working.
“They immediately told me to go to Govan Mbeki.”
When contacted for comment, SA Post Office spokesperson Suzie Khumalo referred questions to Louise Brugman, who handles public relations on behalf of the business rescue team.
“The Walmer and Linton Grange branches’ electricity was cut off due to non-payment,” Brugman said.
“We are busy with a branch rationalisation as per the business rescue plan that was supported overwhelmingly by creditors on December 7 last year.
“The BRPs [business rescue practitioners] will have a better picture of all branches, including Walmer and Linton Grange, in the coming weeks.
“We ask post office customers to be patient for a little longer.”
Brugman said the non-payment of electricity was a reality facing many of the country’s branches “literally due to not having money”.
Payment to the two Gqeberha post offices should be made soon, she said.
“With the business rescue plan, we are going to be closing about 400 branches,” Brugman added.
SA Post Office was placed in business rescue due to a reportedly woeful financial situation on July 10 last year following a high court judgment.
This disrupted critical business activities and the financial solvency of the national government entity.
Subsequently, joint business rescue practitioners of the SA Post Office prepared and published an 85-page business rescue plan in November to “restructure and modernise” the postal service.
According to the findings, the company’s financially distressed position was primarily attributed to factors including the SA Post Office incurring operating losses for many years, resulting in accumulated losses of about R19bn as of September 30.
“The operating losses are due to declines in revenue and an unsustainable cost base,” business rescue practitioners Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons said.
Municipal spokesperson Sithembiso Soyaya was unable to comment at the time of publication, saying he needed to follow up with the relevant departments before providing an official response.
Follow-up attempts to reach Soyaya telephonically were unsuccessful.
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