SA Post Office crisis: Rating the most affordable alternatives

As the South African Post Office faces financial turmoil and plans massive job cuts, distrust among residents grows. Explore seven affordable alternatives to Sapo, including Aramex’s store-to-door at R99.99, Bob Box’s secure smart lockers in northern Gauteng, and DSV Locker’s point-to-point service starting at R55. Easy Collect & Drop offers door-to-door courier from R64, Pargo’s point-to-point from 4,000 locations, Paxi’s dimension-based pricing, and Postnet’s courier service starting at R109. Pudo’s smart lockers, ranging from R60 to R200, provide a convenient and secure alternative.

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By Myles Illidge

The South African Post Office (Sapo) is in a dire state, with its business rescue practitioners (BRPs) planning to cut thousands of jobs in an attempt to make the state-owned entity profitable.

However, several affordable options are available for South African residents who no longer trust the Post Office to deliver their packages on time or in one piece.

Sapo’s financial situation has declined significantly in recent years, with the state-owned mail carrier’s reported losses quadrupling in 2019.

Losses remained high in the following years, ranging from R2.2 billion to R2.4 billion annually. It also hasn’t met its delivery targets for more than a decade.

Joint Business Rescue Practitioners Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons have been working with Sapo management to address these financial issues.

The pair declared Sapo insolvent in July 2023 and recently announced that its creditors have voted to support their Business Rescue Plan.

The plan will be carried out in one of two stages, with the first involving massive job cuts and focussing on stabilising the state-owned company.

Sapo’s headcount will be cut to around 5,000 employees, meaning it must retrench roughly 6,000 employees.

It will also focus on up-skilling the remaining staff and employ “digital specialists and leaders” to assist with its modernisation.

“Focus will be on improving service delivery levels, which will include increasing its fleet to deliver letters and parcels timeously,” said the joint BRPs.

“New digital products will be considered and launched to increase revenue streams while automating more of the daily tasks.”

The second phase will see the commencement of the “Post Office of Tomorrow” vision, which hopes to achieve the outcomes mandated in the Postal Amendment Bill.

This includes diversifying and expanding its services through hybrid mail extensions, new licence disc renewal systems, and launching a digital hub.

Below are seven affordable alternatives to the South African Post Office.

Aramex Store-to-Door

Aramex offers a store-to-door delivery service that costs R99.99 regardless of package size, which it says is a first in South Africa.

“It is the ideal option for sending documents, parcels and gifts throughout SA. It is also the ideal way to get your e-commerce business booming with our extensive delivery network,” says Aramex.

Aramex partnered with Pick n Pay, Checkers, and Fresh Stop to offer its store-to-door service from a range of retail outlets nationwide.

Bob Box

Bob Group-owned Bob Box is a door-to-locker courier company that offers users smart lockers to keep parcels secure and accessible to only the recipient.

It is currently only available at select locations in northern Gauteng, including Fourways, Rivonia, Bryanston, Queenswood, Mamelodi, and parts of Centurion.

Bob Box bases its pricing on locker size, with shipping costs of R50, R60, and R70 for Small, Medium, and Large parcels, respectively.

DSV Locker

DSV’s smart locker-based point-to-point courier service starts at R55 for an A4 flyer bag and reaches R120 for a 40cm x 30cm x 19cm box.

Its lockers are located at more than 250 Engen petrol stations across South Africa, and it offers locker-to-locker and locker-to-door deliveries.

DSV will notify the parcel’s recipient when it is ready for collection at your chosen locker. It will also notify the sender when the package arrives at the collection locker.

Easy Collect & Drop

Easy Collect & Drop (ECD) offers a door-to-door courier service with pricing starting from R64, depending on the package size.

It also offers courier services for ECD point to ECD point, and ECD point-to-door. These are slightly cheaper, with prices starting from R35.

ECD says it can deliver to customers in Cape Town and Gauteng within 24 hours, but those in other regions might have to wait three to five days.

Pargo

Pargo offers point-to-point delivery services from over 4,000 collection locations across the country. To achieve this, it partnered with retailers like Clicks and Caltex to provide in-store pickup and drop-off points.

Some of the locations are open 24/7, and Pargo says its point-to-point delivery model lets customers go about their daily shopping without having to make an additional stop to fetch parcels.

The courier service doesn’t specify customer pricing on its website.

Paxi

Paxi doesn’t base its pricing on weight but on the parcel’s dimensions. It offers two package sizes — standard and large — with the former being large enough to fit a standard-sized pillow.

According to the company, the larger package will fit two standard-sized pillows.

It offers two delivery options for each package size — seven to nine business day delivery and three to five business day delivery — with prices as follows:

Small, 7 to 9-day: R59.95
Small, 3 to 4-day: R99.95
Large, 7 to 9-day: R109.95
Large, 3 to 5-day: R139.95

Postnet

Postnet offers a courier service that will transport your parcel from one of its branches to another for the recipient to collect, with prices starting at R109 for packages up to 5kg.

It charges an additional R25 per kilogram for parcels weighing more than 5kg, up to a maximum of 15kg per waybill.

The private postal agency says its courier deliveries take two to three working days and has over 400 locations across South Africa. However, deliveries to outlying areas may take a bit longer.

Pudo

Pudo follows a similar model to DSV locker and ECD, with a network of smart lockers service as secure pickup and drop-off points nationwide.

It offers pricing based on locker size rather than weight, with pricing starting at R60 for an “Extra-Small” locker and going up to R200 for an “Extra-Large” one.

The system is entirely web and app-based, meaning customers never have to visit a kiosk to send or receive an item. Customers have 36 hours to pick up their package after receiving the notification.