South African postal services amendment bill for NCOP

The Postal Services Amendment Bill will be tabled for discussion in the National Council of Provinces on Wednesday 22 October. The controversial draft legislation effectively gives the SA Post Office a monopoly on handling parcels weighing less than one kilogram, leading to criticism it will put courier companies out of business. However, in a statement on Monday 19 October, the Department of Communications denied this, saying services had to provided irrespective of geographic location. “These services must be delivered either at a postal address or at a street address. “Thus it is clear that this bill does not halt the delivery of pizzas, or flowers for that matter, as these cannot be delivered in a post box.” It said the bill did not prevent courier companies from operating, but rather freed them to provide services. “The government is confident that through the hard work of the South African Post Office, a basic postal service will indeed become a right for all citizens of our country and not a privilege.”