At the end of last year there was a postal strike and I did not receive post for two months.
However, by the beginning of 2014 the problems appeared to have been sorted out and post was delivered regularly for a few months.
Then , in June, delivery stopped abruptly.
I was told that the postal workers were on strike again.
Five weeks later, I was told that the strike was over and that the post was being sorted.
I waited in vain for some post for two weeks, before phoning the sorting department.
They told me that there was post for me, but it couldn’t be delivered as there was no van available.
I had to telephone yet again, the next day before I gratefully found 8 letters in my post box .
However, there were no further deliveries.
This week I decided to investigate for myself and went to the sorting department on the corner of Third Avenue and Fourth Street.
A sorry sight met my eyes.
Laying everywhere were crates and crates of post waiting to be sorted.
One man was sitting on a crate, eating an apple.
Another man was sitting on a crate reading The Advertiser and another two were lounging nearby, one with a cellphone in his hand.
After asking for the supervisor, I was ushered into the tearoom.
There, were another three men sitting at a table, doing nothing.
As the “supervisor” was busy on her cellphone, I asked them why no post was being delivered.
They tried to tell me that there was no van, but I pointed out that just the previous day, on the way to work, I had passed the post van going towards my area.
The laughing retort was: “He wasn’t delivering post – he was jolling!”
By that time the “supervisor” had disappeared.
I found her several minutes later, standing on the pavement corner, chatting to two “workers”.
They explained to me that they were not working because they had a hard job and were being paid peanuts!
I find it interesting that the SABC gives high profile coverage to strikes in the private sectors like the mines and of Nusa members, but not a word is mentioned about what is going on in the government departments themselves.
Fellow citizens, stop waiting complacently for post to be delivered – it’s not going to happen any time soon!
MR Stella, Endicott.
Malusi Fuphe, spokesman for the Witwatersrand region says because of labour disruptions in the East Rand area, a number of Post Office employees were dismissed.
“Mail delivery in the Endicott area has been resumed and mail is delivered to street addresses in the area twice weekly.
