Things don't look good for the SA Post Office

[koeksGHT]

Nah, cell phone penetration is pretty high and you'll find that the maid, barman or guy that does your garden probably has a better phone than you have.

Yea they get them cheap from all the muggings.

Guy muggs someone, goes to pawn dealer(friend usually) gets between R50 and R500 depending on phone and they resell iPhone 5's for 1.5k

 

[gregmcc]

marred by mismanagement and corruption

Noooo way!! Who would have thought?!

How about doing something about it now - fire management/lock up the thieves. Oh wait what am I saying - the whole of gov't are thieves.

 

[nivek]

You forget 90% of the population lives in poverty. That means not everyone is sitting behind a computer and allot of them are lucky if they can find a brick to sit on.

Other people are not as fortunate as you are.

that and you'll always find old people at the post office, those that aren't so comfortable with technology..

 

[Dan C]

Artificially supporting a dying industry just to keep people employed may be good in the short-term but eventually the inevitable will happen sooner or later. Rather let it be sooner so people can reskill or retrain. The same thing happened with telegrams, steam engines, cotton mills, and a hundred different old technologies and industries. Progress marches on and people need to either adapt or die. The fact is that the postal industry is dying and obsolete. Many businesses have completely stopped using the postal service as technological alternatives have presented themselves. Revenues are drying up and there is nothing they can do to reverse it.

Totally agree with this, it's inevitable. But if it happens tomorrow it will have a huge impact on a lot of people and families. Sad but true either way.

 

[nivek]

Even my maid and gardener have Android smartphones with internet access these days, so I don't buy that at all.



Artificially supporting a dying industry just to keep people employed may be good in the short-term but eventually the inevitable will happen sooner or later. Rather let it be sooner so people can reskill or retrain. The same thing happened with telegrams, steam engines, cotton mills, and a hundred different old technologies and industries. Progress marches on and people need to either adapt or die. The fact is that the postal industry is dying and obsolete. Many businesses have completely stopped using the postal service as technological alternatives have presented themselves. Revenues are drying up and there is nothing they can do to reverse it.

The cost difference of importing something via courier vs EMS/USPS is huge.. DHL will love it if the postal service fails
Us normal people, not so much..

 

[deweyzeph]

The cost difference of importing something via courier vs EMS/USPS is huge.. DHL will love it if the postal service fails
Us normal people, not so much..

If the postal service fails it should create more space in the market for more private courier companies to operate in and hopefully reduce the cost of sending parcels via private couriers. Sending of parcels is the one part of the postal service's business that still makes business sense so it will be interesting to see what happens in the future.

 

[FlashSA]

Can you do FICA and RICA stuff with emailed statements?

Obtained my current bond by only supplying stored documents from my dropbox. That included rates account / proof of address and my saved emailed bank statements. No questions asked.

 

[Hamster]

Bills by email, parcels by courier. Kill the Post Office!

This. The only reason I still have a PO Box is for AARTO and because I'm renting

 

[Nefertiti]

Even my maid and gardener have Android smartphones with internet access these days, so I don't buy that at all. .

just because they have a smartphone doesnt mean they know how to use it. I see it a lot where I help out at the hospital sometimes. We take too much for granted thats for sure.

Artificially supporting a dying industry just to keep people employed may be good in the short-term but eventually the inevitable will happen sooner or later. Rather let it be sooner so people can reskill or retrain. The same thing happened with telegrams, steam engines, cotton mills, and a hundred different old technologies and industries. Progress marches on and people need to either adapt or die. The fact is that the postal industry is dying and obsolete. Many businesses have completely stopped using the postal service as technological alternatives have presented themselves. Revenues are drying up and there is nothing they can do to reverse it.

The postal services in its current form wont work and needs to adapt. It still has a place but its not the only place so they need to adjust and innovate a bit.

I also have a hypothetical question for you or actually to anyone here. Eventually all our jobs will be replaced or opportunities in it will shrink. Are you doing something to skill yourself up? Or learn something new? Are you doing anything at all? How secure do you think your job is going to be in future (maybe not now but in 20 years)?

 

[nivek]

If the postal service fails it should create more space in the market for more private courier companies to operate in and hopefully reduce the cost of sending parcels via private couriers. Sending of parcels is the one part of the postal service's business that still makes business sense so it will be interesting to see what happens in the future.

I dont think a private service would work with international post and parcels though?

Another example, my father is waiting for a copy of his birth certificate from a local council in France, and they only send them via regular post..

 

[acidrain]

Who cares? Does anyone even use the post office still?

All inbound international packages are handled by the PO so no PO, no importing.

 

[Paul_S]

All inbound international packages are handled by the PO so no PO, no importing.

International couriered packages do not touch the South African Post Office.
Couriered packages arrive via air, go to a sorting/processing facility and then into a distribution network, thankfully none of which touches our pathetic postal system.

The SAPO can die for all I care.
With email on smartphones and courier companies who needs another inefficient, corrupt parastatal which needs to be propped up by tax payers money?

 

[acidrain]

International couriered packages do not touch the South African Post Office.
Couriered packages arrive via air, go to a sorting/processing facility and then into a distribution network, thankfully none of which touches our pathetic postal system.

The SAPO can die for all I care.
With email on smartphones and courier companies who needs another inefficient, corrupt parastatal which needs to be propped up by tax payers money?

Some ebay suppliers don't give you that luxury unless you fine spending 2x, if not more, the product cost just for D2D courier.

 

[saor]

The SAPO can die for all I care.
With email on smartphones and courier companies who needs another inefficient, corrupt parastatal which needs to be propped up by tax payers money?

We need a postal service that works. It's expensive to constantly have to rely on courier services for everything ordered abroad. A lot of sites have free delivery & I'm happy to wait the 3 or 4 weeks it might take to get here...can't do that without a postal service. Using a courier service is absurd for something like a few tshirts when you've already been nailed by the dollar/rand exchange rate on the items themselves.

 

[kianm]

cANCer eating us up. I would say close shop but then there are some who just don't have the resources to move to electronic mail and DHL for parcels etc

 

[hellfire]

Why would you want to send a letter though when it's so easy to simply write an email or scan something and send as an attachment?

Like a DVD?
Or a pair of jeans?

Some items aren't worth courier fees, especially if sending or receiving internationally. The post office fills a very big role.

 

[stefan9]

The post office can go as far as I am concerned. I will happily pay the extra fee for efficient courier service.

 

[sallyspencer]

Zimbabwe here we come........

 

[Electron1]

The strikers have themselves to blame, previous strikes hurt the post office, forcing more people to use email. Now they have driven another nail into the coffin.

As much as I hate going to the Post Office, it is still used by Banks and government - e.g. Credit cards, license renewals etc.

And if we don't have a Postal system, how will Sanral deliver the eToll infringement notices?

 

[The_Unbeliever]

And spare a thought for all the ex-SAPO workers on pension...