TO ensure your internationally mailed Christmas gifts and parcels reach their destinations on time, the SouthAfrican Post Office (SAPO) urges customers who wish to mail such items to do so now.
In particular, customers who use surface mail to send their Christmas gifts abroad, should do so as soon as possible to ensure that the parcel reaches its destinations in time for Christmas.
The following postal deadlines apply as the latest date that items can be airmailed abroad, so that they will reach the recipient in time for Christmas:
Airmail to all countries: 8 December
Surface mail destination – Tristan da Cunha, Ascension, St Helena: 24 November
Great Britain, Europe, Middle East and North America: 27 October
The Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion: 27 October
New Zealand, East and West Africa, Madagascar, Angola, Malawi, Zambia: 1 December
Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe: 8 December
All other countries: 27 October
Registered items can be insured against non-delivery, but not damage. This is due to the fact that the Post Office does not have control over the contents of a package, or the packaging material used and cannot accept responsibility for possible breakage.
Parcels must be packaged securely, as they are transported in bulk. If your mail item does not fill the container, fill it with packaging material like shredded paper or polystyrene to act as a shock absorber.
Make sure the items you are sending are legal in the country of destination. In most countries, plant and animal material cannot be imported.
The following items may not be posted:
* Illegal items such as drugs
* Items that could leak and damage other packages, such as liquids
* Items that may explode or catch fire during air transport, such as aerosols or flammable liquids.
All international and Speed Services items are X-rayed and scanned to ensure the content is legal and safe.
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