The South African Post Office is in trouble, with growing concerns about poor performance and financial failure. In fact, MyBroadband recently reported that they are on the brink of total failure.
Long story short, sending your parcel via the Post Office is risky. Fortunately South Africa has an impressive selection of courier services to choose from. Here they are.
- PostNet South Africa
This courier and printing franchise boasts over 450 stores across South Africa, serving over 70 000 walk-in customers per day.
They offer a range of courier services, including domestic and international delivery, overnight and same-day courier and document and parcel delivery.
Apart from courier services PosNet also offers copy and print services, digital services, stationery and mailboxes.
- The Courier Guy
This is the company that would “love to handle your package” (their words, not mine). They offer door-to-door courier services, same day and overnight delivery, and international courier services.
They have over 170 kiosks nationwide, 22 depots and 1 100 Pudo lockers.
If you haven’t heard of Pudo before, it stands for “pick up, drop off” and refers to a smart locker system designed to allow people to send and receive parcels around the country.
- Fastway Couriers
Ideal for small to medium-sized businesses, Fastway offers a timetabled courier delivery service backed up by the latest computer technology and online parcel track and trace facilities.
Fastway is also available in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.
- Dawn Wing
Another leading courier company in South Africa, Dawn Wing specialises in time definite express delivery services for letters and parcels up to 30kg.
They also offer specialised services, such as e-commerce fulfillment, warehousing, and inventory management.
They are a subsidiary of the DPD group, one of the largest courier networks in Europe.
- Aramex South Africa
Aramex is a global courier company that offers domestic and international courier services, including express and economy delivery, customs clearance, and freight forwarding.
Aramex is known for its innovative courier solutions, such as Aramex Shop and Ship, which allows customers to shop online from overseas retailers and have their purchases delivered to their doorstep.
- DHL Express South Africa
DHL is a global courier company that provides express and economy delivery services, same-day delivery, and international courier services. With over 220 countries and territories covered, DHL is one of the largest courier networks in the world.
In South Africa, DHL offers a range of courier solutions for businesses and individuals, including parcel tracking, insurance, and customs clearance.
- MDS Collivery
Inspired by their philosophy “success through innovation”, this company invented their own word to describe their work: collivery = collection + delivery.
Use their always-accessible online system to obtain a quote, schedule a ‘collivery’, track your parcel, manage your account, make your payment and view your proof delivery and history.
- RAM Hand-to-Hand Couriers
According to RAM the company is one of few that does not subcontract deliveries to third parties. You hand your parcel to them, and they are the ones who hand it over at its destination.
RAM is in possession of a Firearm Transport Certificate, and they also offer specialised courier services such as cash on delivery, hazardous goods transportation and document management.
- TNT South Africa
TNT is available for all VAT-registered businesses, no matter how big or small, to send and track their goods worldwide and door-to-door.
They provide industry-specific services over a variety of services, for example healthcare. This sees them delivering items such as pharmaceuticals, biological samples or time-sensitive medical devices.
- PAXI
PAXI is an affordable courier service offered by PEP stores. A total of 2 800 PAXI points across South Africa makes it easy to send, collect or return your parcels – with costs starting at only R59.95.
The easy convenience of simply going to your nearest PEP has seen PAXI grow in popularity. PAXI stands for ‘Parcel in a taxi’. It simply doesn’t get more proudly South African than that.
- DSV Courier Services
Boasting a nationwide footprint of more than 1 600 towns across South Africa, as well as Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland, DSV has an impressive reach.
They specialise in delivering small parcels, offering various courier options to meet the client’s needs. They also offer e-commerce solutions.
- CourierIT
Over 23 network hubs and 14 branches in South Africa allows CourierIT to deliver all over the country.
Their core services include overnight and same-day courier, non-express, economy, door to counter, international document and parcel import and export, international cross border economy and international airfreight.
Furthermore they offer insurance and claim facilitation and reverse logistics, as well as the promise to make a plan to suit your individual needs.
- Yango Delivery
Yango offers same day, next day and return delivery from as little as R40 per order.
Yango keeps costs down by having couriers deliver as many packages per hour as possible, meaning you won’t necessarily pay for the full journey.
Route planning software lets them combine orders on the go, so you automatically split costs with other clients.
- SkyParcel
A proudly South African company, SkyParcel specialises in same day courier services within Gauteng. They can also help with after hour deliveries at no additional cost.
Other services include worldwide courier services, road freight services, customs and international exports.
- Diamond Express
Starting out as a small, privately owned family business in 1996, Diamond Express has grown to one of the top courier options covering, among others, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Cape Town, Upington and Welkom.
Their services are offered over diverse industry types, including sport equipment, medical, retail, catering, wine and automotive.
Services include same day and overnight express, economy delivery, Saturday delivery, airfreight and dedicated loads.
- Aerospeed Couriers
Established in 1993, Aerospeed is one of the oldest South African delivery companies.
Their service is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year and they offer both domestic and international courier services.
Included in their services is deferred roadfreight, an extremely cost effective delivery service reserved for very large, consolidated shipments that are not time sensitive.
- Door 2 Door Couriers
A young, dynamic company based in Gauteng, Door 2 Door’s local services include overnight delivery, same day delivery, door to door courier, normal cargo, budget cargo and sunrise/early delivery.
International services are available too, covering more than 190 countries.
- 18. Skynet South Africa
Skynet is a large, independently owned network that delivers through more than 200 gateway cities worldwide.
They came to Johannesburg in 1988, and has since grown to employ over 1 600 people with over 35 hubs countrywide and a fleet of more than 800 vehicles.
With a catchphrase that states “anything is possible”, they guarantee that they will be able to assist, even with tailor-made, customised courier solutions.
Conclusion
When it comes to courier services, South African individuals as well as businesses are spoilt for choice. We have a wide range of couriers, each offering a variety of services.
Make your decision based on the urgency of your delivery, the destination and your budget – and of course have a look at online reviews.
