Mail deliveries resume after snow disruption in South Africa

Mail deliveries in parts of South Africa disrupted by major snowstorms have been resuming today. Up to two feet of snow covered easter areas of the country from last week, closing roads and along with high winds also disrupted air and rail travel.

Transport authorities closed major highways including the main route between Johannesburg and the city of Durban.

The South African Post Office said the disruption had delayed its delivery trucks, but that mail was now moving freely between the coast and interior of the country.

“Roads closed by snowstorms delayed some mail items by roughly 48 hours,” said Janras Kotsi, head of Mail Business at the Post Office, “and these items will be delivered by Wednesday 3 August.”

Mail disruption in the Johannesburg area has also been seen over the summer with work stoppages by temporary workers in East Rand.

The South African Post Office obtained a court order to force temporary mail workers to return to work.

Kotsi said today that more than 90% of workers were now delivering the mail to street addresses, and estimated that the backlog would be cleared within seven work days, starting with the oldest mail items.

“We have been working over the weekend to deliver at least half a million items by the end of business today,” he said.