New act threatens couriers' livelihood

Post office could get exclusive rights to parcels up to 1 kilogram Leonard Neill THE COURIER industry in South Africa could lose a major chunk of its current business to the post office if the government proceeds with a new act which was gazetted at the start of this month. The act grants the post office exclusivity over the handling of all parcels weighing up to and including one kilogram. "We have advised all the major companies of the situation and we are now awaiting their response to the notice published in the Government Gazette on November 2," says national postal regulator Warara Kakaza. "The Act follows a White Paper on the subject which was published in 1998. This gives the post office the sole right to handle all small parcels in this manner." The role of postal regulator was instituted after the White Paper was published, and her role is merely that of facilitator, says Kakaza, but courier service operators are not happy about the situation. "It is very sensitive and as the official body we would not like to comment on the matter at this stage," says Blake Higgins, chairman of the South African International Courier Association (Saica). "We are awaiting full details from the regulator and hope to be given further hearings on the subject before anything becomes official." Saica members met the regulator in May but say they have heard nothing since, and have waited anxiously for the outcome of the talks. While none of the members of the association are prepared to be named, a number have expressed their concern. "If the public is forced to use the post office rather than the established couriers, a lot of guys are going to go under," said one member. "Remember documents make up a great deal of our business and most of them come in around 500 grams. I am afraid that this regulation can kill off a great sector of our industry." There are also concerns about the ability of the post office to handle the goods in the rapid service mode currently offered by courier companies. "Can the post office supply the service the couriers offer?" asked one company representative. "Generally the industry will answer Ôno' to that question. The postal people have enough problems handling ordinary mail services, so how can they hope to be on top of a serious demand factor like fast freight deliveries?" There are further concerns about possible job losses. "Many smaller companies out there depend on the documentation courier operations and will naturally go to the wall," said one industry source.