Betty Moleya
Pretoria - It will be business as usual for all branches of the SA Post Office, which will remain open on weekdays and Saturday mornings throughout the festive season.
They will remain open mainly because of the payments of the R350 Sassa social relief grant, but other services will also be offered.
Post Office spokesperson Johan Kruger said their branches would be open, to only be closed on public holidays. “In previous years the post offices did close earlier, but this year we are staying open to help the R350 customers.
“We also find huge numbers of customers pay their car licences this time of the year when they can take time off work and we want to help them too.”
People who use the services of the Post Office will be able to use them without disruptions, said Kruger, adding that the post offices will not only be operating for distributing the social relief grant, but for all regular transactions such as the payment of motor vehicle licences, account payments and sending and collection of parcels.
The majority of branches close on Sundays and public holidays. But, this festive season selected branches in shopping centres will be open on Sundays and public holidays.
Grant beneficiaries are advised to only go to the post offices when it is their pay dates. “They should wait until they have received an SMS informing them that the grant is available.”
The last three digits of the beneficiary’s ID number are the ones that determine the date on which they can visit a branch.
Said Kruger: “They can check the Post Office website to check which pay date they fall under, according to the last three digits of their ID number.”
The post offices are among organisations that are helping the government in distributing the grant, together with retail outlets such as Pick n Pay and Boxer supermarkets, for beneficiaries who are not able to go to the post office.
This, Kruger said, was provided their cellphone numbers were only used for one grant application and not more. Normally the first week of every month is reserved for the payment of Sassa grants to the elderly and disabled, as well as child grants, and the rest of the month is dedicated to other Sassa payments.
Pretoria News