Postal codes were introduced in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

on 8 October 1973, with the introduction of automated sorting.

Format

South African

postal codes A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal ...

consist of four digits. Mail may be delivered either to the physical address or to a PO Box, particularly in rural areas where no street delivery is available. In addition, many large organisations may use Private Bag addresses, with mail dispatched to the holder by a mail contractor. In the case of cities and large towns, however, the last two digits of the postal code indicate the mode of delivery. The digits "01" indicate a street address and "00" a PO Box or Private Bag address, with addresses in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, S ...

, for example, using the following format: 300 Kempston Road Port Elizabeth 6001 PO Box 1840 Port Elizabeth 6000 In Pretoria, however, a different format is used, with "02" indicating a street address, and "01" indicating a PO Box or Private Bag address. 370 Church Street Pretoria 0002 PO Box 427 Pretoria 0001 A feature of South African postal addresses, also common to Australia, is that it is only necessary to include the suburb, not the city, for example, in the case of Yeoville in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

: 43 Cavendish Road Yeoville 2198

Former postal codes

The South African postal code system was previously used in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

, then " South West Africa", including the

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of Walvis Bay, which remained part of South Africa until 1994. It was allocated the number range 9000–9299.''South African Panorama'' - Volume 22
South African Information Service, 1977, page 9 Following independence, use of the South African postal code system was discontinued.''The comprehensive handbook of the postmarks of German South West Africa, South West Africa, Namibia''
Ralph F. Putzel, R.F. Putzel, 1991, page 173

References

External links

Find a South African Postal Code
*
South African Post Office, 2019 archiveSouth African Postal Code Geography
*https://en.youbianku.com/South_Africa {{South Africa topics

Post Postal system of South Africa