Fontainebleau Post Office still closed

The local post office has been closed for some weeks, likely due to unpaid rent, and it is still unclear when it will reopen.

Shadow Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Cameron MacKenzie explained the South African Post Office (Sapo) is losing around R80 to R100 million a month, every month.

This means the organisation cannot meet its financial obligations to suppliers and landlords. MacKenzie said, “This is the likely reason behind the closure/lockout at the Fontainebleau Post Office, unpaid rent.”

He said that Sapo is in a state of terminal decline, adding that with its falling revenues from traditional mail business together with a lack of agility in the courier space, the entity is struggling to compete with more nimble operators in the mail and parcels logistics business.

“Sapo is also required, in terms of its licence, to fund a universal service obligation and roll out postal services to often unprofitable deep rural areas, the so-called ‘unfunded mandate’ that the entity is legislatively obliged to provide.”

MacKenzie said it is unfortunate that the government belatedly provided multi-billion rand bailouts to Sapo, however, it is often a case of ‘too little, too late’ as the organisation struggles to pay its creditors timeously, which in turn, affects its ability to render the service it is supposed to.

According to him, the government refuses to confront the sad state of affairs and to take the bold action required to get and keep the entity on its feet –all while its reputation and its customers continue to suffer.

He added that he had written to the head of mail at Sapo asking why the Fontainebleau Post Office had been shut and when it was likely to reopen.

Ward 104 councillor Mike Wood also visited the post office and said that as it is not a municipal issue, the DA would do their best to see that it is open, as it does affect the community.

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