“The Post Office has decided not to increase post box rentals for 2015 as a way of compensating its customers for the inconvenience caused by the strike,” the post office’s spokesperson Lungile Lose said.
However, international surface mail was not at all affected by the strike, Lose said. “Postal workers in coastal provinces – where surface mail comes into South Africa – were not on strike.”
The crippling postal workers’ strike that spanned four months had left some affected customers seeking to determine whether they would any compensation due to their boxes being unused.
However, the post office’s move to compensate customers by not increasing the rental tariff for 2015 had not filtered down to its various outlets.
Estel de Villiers said she had not received the renewal notification slip, which typically informed customers that their box rentals were due before the end of January, due to the strike.
The post office had not communicated with customers regarding this and De Villiers, therefore, contacted the post office in her area to inquire and was told she could go to the branch and make payment.
However, when inquiring whether she would receive some form of compensation she was told by staff that they did not know.
According to the post office’s mail tariff booklet, the rate for post boxes (second postal address) was R339 per annum.
