VIDEO: Queensburgh post office back online for grant payments
The extended delay which saw people being sent home when trying to pick up their grants has now been resolved.
FRUSTRATED residents from the greater Queensburgh area were dismayed when it seemed like the only remaining post office was unable to pay the Covid-19 relief grant of R350.
Chris Schutte, a grant recipient, contacted the Queensburgh News last Wednesday expressing his frustration at the poor service offered by Queensburgh Post Office.
“They blame it on load shedding, but they have refused to pay people out since last week Friday,” he said.
“There was no load shedding in this area last night, which was the excuse they gave us on Monday when they said the system was still down because of overnight load shedding. I can’t believe what is going on and why there is now a poster on the door saying they will not pay this relief grant indefinitely,” said Schutte.
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Sandy Godlwana, a spokesperson for the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) said she had been unaware of the problem.
“Sassa has a contract with the post office to pay our recipients and we need to make sure we find out what is happening here because people rely on that money. The nearest Sassa offices to Queensburgh are Pinetown, Chatsworth or even Durban Central,” she said.
“However, the recipients of the relief grant do not have to go into Sassa offices to apply for the grant as they do can it from their phones.”
Post office comment
Johan Kruger, a spokesperson for the South African Post Office (SAPO), said he was looking into the situation.
On Wednesday Kruger offered the following feedback: “Queensburgh Post Office had network problems from Friday which could not be repaired remotely.”
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“A technician was at the branch this morning. The network has been restored and the branch started paying the Covid relief grants from 10am today,” he said.
Asked specifically about the poster on the door he said, unfortunately, this wasn’t an isolated case.
“We have the same problem with branches that must be closed for deep cleaning after they had a Covid positive customer. Instead of saying ‘closed for cleaning, will reopen Friday’ they put up a notice that makes it appear that they have closed for good.”
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
