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Do not send mail or parcels to South Africa


Mara

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I received this from my sister today!

Currently, this is what has been going on in South Africa since August, however as of yesterday (Nov 7) the entire Postal Board resigned and the SA government has taken over and will attempt to restore order.

This particular one is the post office in Benoni but is typical. The offices have been ransacked and valuables plundered. Mail is scattered around and the buildings are usually open and unguarded

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WARNING TO FRIENDS AND RELATIVES OVERSEAS

Don't send letters or parcels through the post, use alternative externally operated methods (Not SA run) like DHL, FedEx or other delivery methods, not destroyed and dismantled like our once proud and efficient postal service. Please be warned, or these pictures show what will happen to your Christmas packages, company goods, letters from loved ones, business items etc.

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SA Post Office on the brink of financial collapse

South African post office announced yesterday that they were on the brink of financial collapse, at more than 5 Billion in debt and if the government did not bail them out in the next week, then they would have to shut their doors. The financial situation of the post office is dire. It is seriously dire,” Sapo general manager public affairs Andrew Nongogo told Parliament's communications and public enterprises select committee. And for all you guys waiting for parcels and mail...that's what the Johannesburg International Mail Centre looks like.

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Oh well I guess I am going to have to go through the pain of having all those docs copied, recertified and filled in and send them via courier to your sister again Mara. I sent my stuff off the week before this all hit the news. :angry2::boxing::angry2:

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HEOJ, have you emailed her to check if she received them? I also have to send her a document for the bank, I thought of asking on the forum if there is someone who would be willing to take the letter for me, she will always collect it from someone... Perhaps we can send our stuff together?

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I sent a mail about 2 weeks ago and she let me know that as soon as the stuff arrives she will email me but I'm not holding my breath. I'm pretty sure the docs aren't going to make it.

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Not a great situation. We do a lot of shopping off ebay and it seems things are slowly starting to come in (have had 2 parcel collection slips this week) but it is slow and seems to be very hit and miss (some stuff that was ordered in October has arrived but items ordered in September haven't - though I do suspect that my husbands mountain biking shorts and shoes look very much like "normal" clothes and are now in someone else's possession).

HEOJJ I'd give it two or3 more weeks than you expected the parcel to take and if it hasn't arrived after that then take it as lost :(

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Yeah, hubby and I both waited for parcels in South Africa, but had to leave for OZ without them. We'll have to re-order from here. All my sympathy for everybody still in South Africa.

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The Postal Strike is still ongoing - now into its 4th month.

The union turned down the latest wage offer yesterday, and, having already forced the entire Board to resign, believes it has the upper hand over government. So this will continue for a while yet.

There are a few brave souls in various postal centres now working surreptitiously at night, but not achieving very much - the mountain of undelivered mail just continues to grow.

The private courier companies are having a field day!

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Weird thing...I am getting mail from Durban... But not from Johannesburg! So does Durban mail go directly out from Durban?

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The Post office has announced today that it has reached an agreement with two of the three postal worker unions, representing 50% of the strikers.

Gauteng's major mail sorting centres Witspos and Tshwane Mail, which have been hardest hit by the strike, are now 100% staffed and operational. Polokwane and Welkom's mail sorting centres have also resumed operations.

Germiston and OR Tambo International however are not yet back to full capacity, although mail has begun to trickle through from these sorting centres.

There is no information as yet about the other centres

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  • 4 weeks later...

Mail (or parcels then) are slowly getting delivered. My MIL got her bday present, that was sent to her from the Gold Coast in the first week of Aug, last week wednesday. She lives in Port Elizabeth. That was the last parcel she will get. Its just not worth the trouble.

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Just buy the presents online in RSA or use Amazon. At least you may be able to get your money back if the presents don't arrive.

The only downside to South African online shops is the selection is usually bad. If its not that's usually because they import your product when you order it. So it can take 3 weeks just to leave their warehouse. But that's still quicker than waiting on the post office.

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Not sure if it's just our little "dorpie", but I went to our post office last week to post a Christmas card to South Africa only to be told that they (Bunbury post) have not yet received permission to resume sending post to South Africa (??). I told them that the strike is over, and they said they know but the SA postal service is still in such chaos they are not yet allowed to send.

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