Dark clouds for private couriers and deliveries in South Africa
The South African Post Office (SAPO) has re-applied for its exclusive licence to provide services in South Africa, including the delivery of packages under 1kg.
In the group’s annual report for 2025/26, published in September, the SAPO noted that its exclusive licence had expired in March 2025, and it reapplied for it in March 2026.
The application is still being processed, and the matter is pending. Because of this, the group flagged the licensing issue as a major risk to the business.
Even if the exclusive licence is granted, it does not remove the material changes to the licence terms implemented at the end of 2025 regarding small packages.
The Post Office has long held a contentious exclusivity licence to deliver small packages weighing under 1kg in the country.
Due to the state company’s failure to fulfil its mandate effectively and efficiently over more than a decade, private couriers and delivery companies have quickly filled the gap.
Despite the growth of a multi-billion-rand industry that filled the void left by state failure, the Post Office sought to exercise its legal right to maintain exclusivity over these deliveries.
In December 2025, however, the Department of Communication and Digital Technology effectively ended SAPO’s monopoly on small-parcel delivery in the country.
DCDT Minister Solly Malatsi, under Section 15(3) of the Postal Services Act, amended Schedule 1 of the Act, removing the reference to “small parcels”.
Schedule 1 of the Act refers to reserved postal services that are exclusively the mandate of the Post Office.
Originally, these services included “all letters, postcards, printed matter, small parcels and other postal articles subject to the mass or size limitations set”.
This was changed to remove “small parcels” from the services.
While the change has been gazetted, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) still has to ratify it.
Malatsi noted in July that this had not yet been done—as such, the exclusivity still held.
However, he also noted that public submissions regarding the Post Office’s monopoly over parcel deliveries were overwhelmingly opposed to this.
“Most of the submissions received were against extending SAPO’s exclusive right to provide reserved postal services,” he said.
Material risk
The SAPO has flagged uncertainty regarding the future of its exclusivity for these deliveries as a material risk to the group.
This is because the group’s turnaround and business rescue outcomes depend on this service as a future revenue source.
“Regulatory uncertainty remained a major risk to SA Post Office turnaround prospects. SAPO had applied to renew its exclusive licence for reserved postal services, including sub-1kg parcels,” it said.
“The licence application process had advanced to the public comment stage, but the final regulatory outcome and any attached conditions remained outstanding.”
SAPO’s vision for its business, published around mid-2025, projected its courier and parcel services would grow from a paltry R38 million contributor in 2024 to a R1.4 billion behemoth by 2029.
The SAPO said Malatsi’s directive to remove sub-1kg parcels from its exclusive services was a “material development” that would eliminate a revenue source incorporated into its business rescue plan.
However, this hinged on the group exclusively handling these services—without it, it would be forced to compete with a deeply entrenched, effective, and efficient private sector.
Asked about the impact on the Post Office’s business rescue plan in July, Malatsi said the removal of SAPO’s monopoly on delivering parcels under 1kg was not identified as a material driver of its sustainability.
This runs counter to the years-long messaging from the SAPO, as well as constant requests for ICASA to enforce the exclusivity and fine private companies for encroaching on its rights.
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