Post now for Christmas
The post office is encouraging the public to drop their packages at the post office before it's too late.
THE South African Post Office has urged customers who want to mail Christmas parcels to consider doing so now and reap some rewards.
Speed Services, the SA Post Office’s courier arm, can deliver items weighing 1kg or less, overnight for only R69 from 11 November to 20 December.
It is also the time of year when many South African send Christmas gifts to friends and relatives in other countries.
“Customers who use the ordinary mail service to send their Christmas gifts abroad should make sure they mail their parcels as soon as possible to ensure that the parcels reach their destinations in time,” said Janras Kotsi, head of Mail Business. Surface mail is the most affordable way to send items abroad.
All air mail items to all countries need to be posted by 11 December.
Surface mail needs to be posted by 22 November to Tristan da Cunha, Ascension, St Helena, 25 November to Australia, North and South America, Asia, Europe and UK, Middle East The Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion 25 November, 13 December to Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe and 13 December to all other countries.
Kotsi added that registered items can be insured against non-delivery, but not damage. “This is due to the fact that we do not have control over the contents of a package, or the packaging material used and cannot accept responsibility for possible breakage.”
To ensure your parcels are delivered in the same condition that they were mailed, make sure that they are packaged securely, as they are transported in bulk. If your mail item does not fill the container, fill it with packaging material like shredded paper or polystyrene to act as a shock absorber. Make sure the items you are sending are legal in the country of destination. In most countries, plant and animal material cannot be imported.
Illegal items such as drugs, items that could leak and damage other packages, such as liquids and items that may explode or catch fire during air transport, such as aerosols or flammable liquids may not be posted.
All international and Speed Services items are x-rayed and scanned to make sure the content is legal and safe.
