Cheapest online parcel delivery companies in South Africa
South Africans have plenty of affordable options for couriering small parcels across the country, with prices starting from as little as R59.95.
The South African Post Office’s poor performance over the past decade has opened a gap in the logistics market for small parcels.
Its operational failures contributed to a larger financial crisis at the state-owned mail carrier, culminating in the Post Office facing liquidation in 2023.
It was placed in business rescue after the South African government pledged R6.2 billion in bailouts for the beleaguered state-owned enterprise.
As part of an endeavour to boost revenue, the Post Office attempted to enforce a monopoly on parcels smaller than 1 kilogram in 2020.
Its intent was not to actually take over the work but rather to charge an “agency fee” for couriers to be allowed to deliver small parcels.
The private courier industry challenged the Post Office’s claim, and its attempt to monopolise small parcel deliveries became mired in regulatory processes.
Most recently, communications minister Solly Malatsi said he believed it was worthwhile to “look into” the Post Office’s current exclusive license on reserved postal services.
“This comes at a time when postal services are transitioning away from monopolies,” he said.
With the threat of the Post Office enforcing a monopoly over small parcel deliveries off the table, companies like The Courier Guy, Aramex, and Pep Stores can compete for a slice of the pie unhindered.
In their case, small parcels refer to packages weighing up to 5 kilograms or 45cm by 35cm in size.
In the vacuum left by the Post Office, couriers have devised several innovative ways to make parcel deliveries as convenient as possible.
For instance, some couriers offer store-to-door delivery options where parcels can be dropped into a bin or placed in a locker located at a convenient place such as a supermarket or petrol station.
This operates similarly to the Post Office’s streetside postboxes.
Due to already having logistical infrastructure and systems in place, many couriers also offer a store-to-store delivery option.
This is what Paxi, the most affordable courier on the list, does. Its service is offered through Pep, which has over 2,600 branches nationwide.
Customers need only drop the parcel off at a Pep store and select which store they would like it delivered to.
It costs R59.95 to deliver a parcel in 7–9 working days and an additional R50 to have it delivered in three to five working days.
Pudo, a locker-to-locker service offered by The Courier Guy, is the second most affordable delivery option, starting at R60 for a 5kg package.
Customers drop off packages at any of the 1,500 lockers around the country, commonly located at petrol stations, and select a locker to have it delivered to.
There is also the option to select a locker-to-door delivery, which costs an additional R10.
The most affordable door-to-door courier is D2D, which charges R89 for a 5kg package. Fastway offers the same type of service for R1 more than D2D.
Similar to Pudo, Aramex offers a store-to-door delivery option for R99. Customers can drop the parcel off at one of 1,300 locations around the country and have it delivered in one to three business days.
Aramex does not specify the weight, but it must be able to fit into a 45cm by 35cm bag.
The most expensive service on the list is Postnet’s store-to-store service where customers can have a parcel delivered to one of 480 stores nationwide.
This costs R109 and will be delivered in two to three working days.
Working Post Office could boost e-commerce growth
Despite the prevalence of courier services in South Africa, Zulzi CEO Donald Valoyi believes its services are still necessary to increase e-commerce penetration in the country.
Valoyi argued that although private postal and courier services have filled the gap left by the Post Office, it caters to all South Africans — especially those in lower-income segments.
“The reason the Post Office is critical for this country is because it is located where most people are,” says Valoyi.
This is due to the Post Office’s universal service obligations that require it to serve all South Africans.
Valoyi believes that improving delivery access is critical to increasing e-commerce penetration in South Africa.
“One of the biggest problems with private delivery services is that they are very expensive, meaning many people can’t afford to use them,” he says.
“Private delivery services also struggle to reach remote areas, resulting in expensive delivery fees.”
Bob Group, the owner of Bob Shop and several other e-commerce services, shares Valoyi’s vision of making online shopping accessible to all South Africans.
The group plans to do this by installing smart lockers, similar to those of Pudo, in South Africa’s informal settlements.
“I really think that this can have a significant impact, especially in the informal areas where you going to be able to have your parcel delivered to a locker or pickup point rather than to a physical address,” Bob Group managing director Andy Higgins told MyBroadband.
The service currently offers several locker locations near informal settlements in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Western Cape.
It has also rolled out lockers to dozens more locations around South Africa’s most populous cities.
Bob Group offers these lockers as a service to e-commerce platforms to use as a delivery option — including its own Bob Shop.
The smart lockers will also become available for customer-to-customer parcel delivery services in the near future, as per the company’s website.
The table below shows each courier that offers small parcel deliveries as well as the type of service, prevalence of pickup and dropoff points, and the price.
Courier | Type of delivery | Number of dropoff/pickup points | Max weight | Parcel tracking | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paxi | store-to-store | Over 2,600 | 5 kg | Yes | R59.95 |
Pudo | locker-to-locker | 1,500 | 5 kg | Yes | R60 |
Pudo | locker-to-door | 1,500 | 5 kg | Yes | R70 |
D2D | door-to-door | – | 5 kg | R89 | |
Fastway | door-to-door | – | 5 kg | R90 | |
Aramex | store-to-door | Over 1,300 | Must fit into 45cm x 35cm bag | Yes | R99.99 |
Postnet | store-to-store | 480 | 5 kg | SMS on arrival | R109 |