You’ve got mail… or not!

Richards Bay residents have reached the end of their tether as important mail piles up and bills go unpaid.

This after the CBD Post Office branch was closed indefinitely, and mail is now forwarded to the Meerensee branch.

One resident, Pastor Timothy Harry from Brackenham, recently expressed his disappointment in attempting to access his mail from the Meerensee Post Office, without any success.

Harry said he has not received his post, and no progress has been made to reallocate their Richards Bay Post Office boxes to Meerensee.

“We have been waiting for important documents, and this is unacceptable as we are paying for a post box service without any service,” said Harry.

“We know of several other people who have also not been receiving their mail, especially those with subscriptions for magazines, rates and other utility bills.

“I was shocked to see how the mail is being kept at the Meerensee Post Office, just dumped in one area of the centre.

“The staff should at least be sorting the mail and establishing a filing system, especially as customers are still paying for their mail box services but not receiving the mail on time.

“Even when we visit the Post Office to collect there is a long waiting period because the mail is not sorted beforehand and this clearly shows there are no systems in place.

“A system must be implemented urgently to ensure post can easily be retrieved for the customers.

“Leaving mail dumped in the Post Office is not acceptable and our community members who are paying for a service should be informed of the way forward to address this problem,” he said.

Meanwhile, community members who still rely on the mail service as their method of communication continue to struggle with the Post Office service delivery issues.

In a statement issued last month, residents who rented post boxes at Richards Bay and Empangeni post offices were advised by the Post Office to collect their mail at the Meerensee and Empangeni Rail branches after the main branches were closed.

Customers who will be collecting parcels at these branches are encouraged to bring their identity documents.

‘The Post Office keeps parcels for only 30 days at the branch; if not collected within the prescribed period, they are returned to the sender,’ said Post Office KZN spokesperson Nobuhle Njapha.

“Empangeni Post Office to collect at Empangeni Station, situated on 26 Tanner Road; “Richards Bay Post Office to collect at Meerensee Post Office, situated at 52 Anglers Rod.”

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