A week-long strike of South Africa's postal services has caused a massive backlog of deliveries, according to dpa. The strike, which originated in a dispute over salary, also means many South Africans risk their electricity and telephone line being cut off because they are unable to pay any bills. Not only have consumers not received the utility bills. Those who have cannot access the post offices, where many bank transactions are carried out. While many companies are now demanding people view their bills online, roughly 80 per cent of the population does not have access to the Internet. The province hardest hit is Gauteng, to which Johannesburg belongs. The main post office there reckons it will take at least four weeks for all mail to be delivered.
