CAPE TOWN – All post offices in Mitchells Plain will soon close down, forcing residents to travel out of their neighborhoods for postal services. People in Mitchells Plain will have to travel to either Gatesville, Grassy Park, or Lansdowne to access their state grants.
The mayor says if the branches are closed, people in the area will be forced to get to the next closest post office, which he says is about 20 kilometres away. He has now written to the South African Post Office (Sapo) to request an urgent meeting to discuss the closures.
“Mitchells Plain has many thousands of residents who rely on the Sapo for their mail and crucially for the withdrawal of their South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) grants. This decision will have serious negative consequences for local residents,” added the mayor.
Meanwhile, the Post Office’s spokesperson, Johan Kruger, says it is finalising a process to rationalise branches in the city.
He explained, “We are merging unprofitable branches in order to save costs. The Mitchells Plain Post Office was one of those. So, essentially it was closed for affordability reasons.”
He says the nearest branches available to residents of Mitchells Plain are Grassy Park, Gatesville, and Lansdowne.
