Air mail to USA and Australia now available

The SA Post Office has reintroduced the air mail service to the United States and Australia with immediate effect after air freight connections to these countries became available.

The postal service is now available to 42 major countries and, in the form of surface mail, offers the most cost-effective option to dispatch parcels overseas. When the SA Post Office was able to offer a once-off opportunity to send mail to Australia in October last year, 1.4 tons of mail was loaded on the plane.

Senders must include the recipient’s cellphone number with their address details so that the delivering post office is able to send them an SMS when the item is ready for collection.

The mail service is now available to the following countries:

Road Transport:
– Botswana
– Kingdom of Eswatini
– Lesotho
– Malawi
– Mozambique
– Namiba
– Tanzania
– Zambia
– Zimbabwe

Air Mail:
– Albania
– Argentina
– Austria
– Belgium
– Brazil
– Canada
– China
– Czech Rep.
– Denmark
– England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland
– France
– Germany
– Greece
– Hungary
– India
– Ireland
– Israel
– Italy
– Japan
– Maldives
– Netherlands
– Oman
– Poland
– Portugal
– Romania
– Russia
– Serbia
– Singapore
– Spain
– Sri Lanka
– Sweden
– Switzerland
– Thailand
– UK (United Kingdom)
– Ukraine
– United Arab Emirates
– USA

Sea Transport
– Argentina
– Ascension
– Austria
– Belgium
– Brazil
– China
– Czech Republic
– Denmark
– England
– France
– Greece
– Hungary
– India
– Ireland
– Israel
– Italy
– Japan
– Lesotho
– Madagascar
– Maldives
– Mauritius
– Netherlands
– Oman
– Poland
– Portugal
– Reunion
– Romania
– Russia
– Seychelles
– Singapore
– South Korea
– Spain
– Sri Lanka
– St Helena
– Sweden
– Switzerland
– Thailand
– Tristan da Cunha
– Ukraine
– United Arab Emirates
– United States of America

International items are delivered within an average of 10 workdays. For a quicker service, the Post Office offers the EMS service, which delivers items within 24 hours of arrival in the destination country.

Customers can easily access the electronic customs declaration form on the Post Office website for quick clearance of parcels. The form is under “tools” on the website www.postoffice.co.za.

South Africans are entitled to two tax-free gifts from abroad per year, provided the value of each gift is below R1400. More information is on the SARS website at https://www.sars.gov.za/customs-and-excise/sending-or-receiving-goods-in-the-post/.

The SA Post Office advises customers who send parcels abroad to pack the items very securely and to use padding, as the mail is transported as bulk freight. International parcels can be tracked all the way to delivery.

It is illegal to send or receive live animals or plants, flammable or explosive goods or illegal substances such as drugs in the mail.

Any form of medication may only be imported into South Africa if the sender has a permit to export medication to SA. Some countries do not allow the importing of any plant or animal products, even in sealed packaging. For more information, please visit the website of the postal administration in the receiving country.

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