Cape firms reject postal rules
The regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry has entered the fray over the state’s attempt to regulate the courier industry, warning that implementing draft regulations in their current form would have a severe negative effect on many of its members.
The chamber said in a letter to Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri that although commerce and industry were the biggest users of postal and courier services, there had been no attempt to consult organised business over the new provisions, which would force smaller courier companies out of business and destroy thousands of jobs.
Chamber director Albert Schuitmaker said there was no need for legislation to control the courier industry, which was in fact providing a better and more reliable service than the Post Office. “Surely the answer is to jack up the postal services, and not to handicap the competition,” said Schuitmaker.
Under the old law, the Post Office was granted a monopoly over the delivery of letters, with courier companies restricted to parcel delivery. However, the definition of a letter was unclear, hence the postal regulator’s latest proposal.
In terms of the draft regulations, handling items weighing less than 1kg requires a special licence. Applying for such a licence would cost R15000, and the fee for the first three years could be as high as R550000 a year.
The chamber rejected these fees as “exorbitant”, saying they discriminated unfairly against small and medium-sized firms, and would drive all but the biggest courier companies out of business, with a potential loss of 75% of the estimated 150000 jobs in the industry.
Schuitmaker said the argument that courier companies were “cherry-picking” the most profitable services and leaving the Post Office with unprofitable work did not wash because the courier companies came into existence only because the range of services offered by the Post Office was limited, delivery was slow and inefficient, and theft rife.
The SA Express Parcel Association pointed out that couriers provided the value-added services that commercial customers demanded, such as collection and delivery, person-to-person delivery of legal documents and track-and-trace facilities.
