A Kenilworth man says its been a battle to get his post after the Claremont post office closed four months ago.
David Smith said he had had a post-office box at the Claremont branch for 35 years. Before the post office had closed in February, he had been assured his box would be moved to Clareinch post office.
“It’s been four months since the post office closed, and we still do not have access to our post-office boxes. If one asks the staff at Clareinch, they have no idea when the post boxes will be moved. They also don’t know where at Clareinch they will be able to install them.
When enquiring from head office, all one receives is an acknowledgement, reference number and assurance that the matter has been referred to the ‘post box section’,” he said.
Mr Smith can collect his mail at the Clareinch post office but only during business hours.
“I used to clear my box on a Sunday or late at night, and I am finding it very inconvenient having to queue up at Clareinch during business hours. It took about three weeks after the closure before we were able to obtain any mail at all, and we are just not receiving the service for which we have paid.”
SA Post Office spokeswoman Martie Gilchrist said the Claremont branch had closed after the landlord had chosen not to extend the contract. In a case where a branch closed, post was delivered to the nearest branch.
She said the Post Office was “contracting a supplier” to move the Claremont post-office boxes.
Mr Smith said his post office box had had four different locations over the past 35 years, first the Werdmuller Centre, then Cavendish Square, then The Atrium (which is now Stadium on Main) and finally at Clareinch.
“Previously when the post office moved there was never this kind of problem. In July 2015, however, because Claremont post office’s rent had not been paid, mail had to be collected from Kenilworth post office. On that occasion, one had to wait for about 15 minutes while they extracted one’s mail from the pile,” he said.
Ms Gilchrist said the annual fee for renting a post box was R495, with a once-off refundable key deposit of R30.