Durban – Workers at the South African Post Office’s Bishopsgate branch in the Durban central business district have lamented the poor state of the facility, likening it to an abandoned building.
They have to mop floors on rainy days due to a leaking roof, they told Sunday Tribune during a visit last week.
The main entrance to the Post Office, on Dr Pixley KaSeme Street (formerly West Street) has been closed for well over two years with litter strewn all over the once-busy entrance to the Post Office.
Customers now have to line up along the building’s wall on Gardner Street where they are ushered in by Post Office staff who have to double as security guards because there are no security guards to usher in customers.
Walking into the Bishopsgate Post Office branch in central Durban the state of neglect is palpable, Cobwebs on the walls, paint flaking off the walls and dirt strewn across sections of the floor are all commonplace in the building.
An employee, who has worked at the Post Office for 20 years, detailed how on rainy days the roofs leak so much that they have to stop working and mop the floors as they could not risk having customers walking on the wet and slippery floors.
“The building looks like an abandoned building. We don’t have tools to work, like computers, and customers end up not getting the service they are supposed to get. Everything is upside down, there are no cleaners or security guards. We end up being the cleaners and security guards,” he said.
Senior leaders not taking responsibility was one of the biggest factors in the sharp decline of the Post Office, he said. “In the end all of that affects the workers in the branches, so this is not nice but we soldier on,” the worker said.
“When I first arrived here the place was in top condition. We always reminisce about how it was before, including the service to customers, but it has constantly declined over the years. Even customers complain about the state of the Post Office,” the worker said.
Another Post Office employee described how they also had to clean the building as there were no employed cleaners. The slow pace of services also left them having to ward off angry and sometimes violent customers who had grown impatient with the snail’pace of services.
“We don’t have tools to work efficiently, including computers and internet. That leads to customers blaming us for the slow pace of service. There have been incidents where things turn violent and customers manhandle us,” he said.
The Post Office last week said it was in consultation with the Post Office labour unions to “resize employee” numbers.
SA Post Office spokesperson Johan Kruger said it was obliged to take these steps for cost reasons.
“The Post Office has been successful in cutting other costs, reducing expenses to 25% below budget. However, the salary cost makes up 68% of total expenditure and needs to be addressed urgently.
“The SA Post Office last posted a profit in 2004, and the decline in its financial position began as far back as 2006, now 17 years ago. The economic recession in 2008 and adoption of smartphones accelerated the decline,” Kruger said.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE