It was on. Letter writing was the main means of communication in urban areas. The letter would take a week or two, sometimes three weeks, to reach its destination. There was also the telegram, instead of which we use the SMS today. One would take a journey to the post office to send the telegram. In most rural areas letters would be delivered from the post office in town to schools or stores - and we know what the rural roads are like. Possibly the letter could take even more than a month.
All these horror stories took place during the apartheid regime. As we roll up our sleeves to develop South Africa, it must be taken into consideration that in the 20 years we are celebrating there has been a baggage of resistance to transformation.