Durban - Durban North ward councillor Shontel De Boer says the closure of the Hyper by the Sea post office and its merger with the Durban North post office is tragic and it will put strain on the existing post offices.
The SA Post Office announced that the Hyper by the Sea branch would be integrated with the Durban North post office from Saturday, July 23.
De Boer said it was sad to see this post office close, especially as the loss of the vehicle licence renewal service would be a huge blow to the community.
“The post office has been there for decades and the residents are not happy about the closure and have pleaded with me to try to keep it open. The Durban North post office is not up to par – I have used it myself and it’s also not situated in the best place and there is limited parking,” said De Boer.
Post Office spokesperson Johan Kruger said the renewing of car licences was one of the most popular transactions at post offices and this service would be available at the Durban North branch.
He added that the post boxes would also move from the Hyper by the Sea to the Durban North post office, while the box number and the address would remain the same.
Kruger said the Hyper by the Sea post office was one of the best performing post offices in South Africa.
“We are confident that these employees will continue to deliver quality service at the branches in the area where they will be deployed.”
Chairperson of the ward 36 Residents Association, Vanessa Knight, said the post office catered to residents from Durban North to uMhlanga, which meant that at times there were long queues for licence renewals due to its large footprint.
She questioned how the Durban North post office would be able to deal with an increase in the number of customers.
“How on earth is another site, which is already dealing with their regular clients, going to cope with the massive increase?”
Knight added that the Durban North post office was already inundated as it facilitated grant payments.
“I have had to report them for the smell of urine emanating from there as they have no form of maintenance and no public toilets. They also only have five parking spaces. So where are people going to park?”
Responding to the comments that the Durban North post office was taking strain, Kruger said the employees and point-of-sale equipment would be redeployed at the branch to ensure that customers received quality service.
He also said there was enough space to accommodate customer volumes.
It is the second time within two years that the Hyper by the Sea branch has closed its doors, following the closure in November last year.