Post Office vs couriers in South Africa – big change coming

The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) has given notice that contentious laws giving the South African Post Office the exclusive right to provide certain services are up for review.

The department gazetted a notice this week saying that it intends to review section 16(8) of the Postal Services Act, which refers to a period of time in which no person may provide certain reserved postal services other than the SAPO.

Under this clause, any licenced postal service provider – such as couriers – is restricted from providing selected services. Currently, this includes:

• The delivery of all letters, postcards, printed matter, small parcels and other postal articles weighing up to 1 kilogram;
• Issuing of postage stamps
• Provision of roadside collection and address boxes, and
• Provision of retail outlets at which customers can access these services.

The Post Office has long held the exclusive right to be the sole provider of these services, but due to the collapse of the SAPO, it has never been practically upheld.

In the vacuum of the failed state-run postal services, many independent services and couriers have cropped up over the years, building successful businesses.

However, in 2018, the SAPO took groups like PostNet and the SA Express Parcel Association to court to try to uphold the law and prevent these groups from encroaching on the SAPO’s exclusive rights by ordering them to stop delivering small packages.

This was supported by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).

However, a high court interdict prevented this from happening as more heavyweights in the sector – including Takealot – entered the fray.

According to the gazette filed this week, the DCDT now intends to review these specific laws and is seeking public input. The department gave no indication of how it wants to review the regulations – whether to dismantle them or reinforce them – only that it will be doing so.

“The legislative framework and the licence require SAPO to provide such services universally to every citizen in the country to ensure that all citizens have equal access to a basic postal service that is reasonably accessible, regardless of physical location, at a uniform postage rate and at an affordable price,” it said.

In the meantime, the South African Post Office has continued to collapse. The group has been operating at a loss every year since 2013, and has exceeded R19 billion in losses over this time.

In December 2023, the DCDT said that SAPO is expecting another R2 billion loss in 2024, amid business rescue proceedings, which would see the group downsize significantly.

The DCDT called on interested persons to provide written comments on the review within 30 calendar days of the gazette’s publication (6 March 2024). Comments can be addressed to:

• Ms Phendile Dlamini, Deputy Director, Postal Policy
• 1166 Park Street, Iparioli Office Park, Block Office A3, First Floor, Hatfield, Pretoria, Private Bag X860, 0001 Pretoria
• Email: [email protected]

Read: South African Post Office expecting almost R2 billion loss for 2024 – as costs triple revenue