Many of us will be very familiar with the perceived inefficiencies of the South African Post Office, with parcels often going missing or arriving very late.
A Durban woman’s story definitely takes the cake, but as they say – rather late than never!
Sanja Hanekom story went viral after she first posted it on Facebook about a week ago: A parcel she was expecting via the South African Post Office, 13 years ago, finally arrived!
It all started after she received two shabby post office notices in their post box that they barely use.
Read the story in her own words, as per her Facebook post:
We were left without words after receiving two shabby printouts in our barely used post box, now inhabited by a pair of local geckos.
The printouts apparently originated from the local post office, one stating that there is an inbound parcel for us to uplift at the post office and the other stating that this is now the final notice for the same parcel.
Barely legible documents (obviously not aware that the printer comes with a cartridge) indicated that we need to pay approximately R65 for the parcel to be released.
Since we were not expecting a parcel, we were rather confused to discover that a parcel with my husband’s name and our address is held hostage at the local post office.
We rushed out to rescue the parcel, mostly because we wanted to see what all this is about.
On our way to the post office the conspiracy theories were in full swing, my hubby’s darkest predictions and mine hoping the parcel may contain stacks of banknotes and a one-way ticket to “yours truly”.
As we entered the vacant post office, we approached the postal office teller and handed in the printed pages promptly. We stood there mesmerised in bemusement while she dragged out a huge, heavy, battered up and excessively taped up parcel which she handed to us over the counter.
There it is. We looked at each other in disbelief.
“Can you tell us who sent the parcel? “. She mumbled something inaudible. I pointed to the parcel. The originating postal stamp clearly stated in red 2010.
My husband did not believe his eyes, “but it can not be, that is thirteen years ago!??” It must be. Whaaaat?
Surprise!!! The once lost parcel was sent to us thirteen years ago by my dad when our child was born.
Surreal, Twilight Zone is real.
She ends her post with a hilarious conclusion:
Dear South Africans do not worry. The South African Postal Office will take good care of your parcel and deliver it to you in due time, that is if you are still alive and have not moved to another address. If you are missing a parcel, do not lose hope, your parcel is resting at the post office warehouse and will be released safely to you when ready.
IOL reported that inside the box was a tea pot (in perfect condition), a pair of sneakers, a broken strainer cup, boxes of tea and a collection of interior design magazines.
