Address structures

Guidelines for addresses For the South African Post Office to deliver mail efficiently and accurately, we need our clients to provide clear, easy-to-read addresses that will assist today's automatic sorting machine to read and distribute mail where it should go. What, where and how This section sets out the important features of addressing mail and explains - what to write; where to write it; and how to structure an address. What to write in the address Addresses need not be complicated. Too many lines of information confuse the mail sorter, the automatic sorting machine and the mail handler and may result in a delay in the delivery of your mail. The bottom line of the address should always be a postcode. A postcode must appear immediately below the name of the city, town or suburb. The line above the suburb or city name (where there is no suburb) should be one of four main types of address: Postbox Private bag Street Rural delivery It is important that only one type of address be used, otherwise the sorter has to decide where it is best to send the mail and this may not be where you want it to go. Where there is a postbox or private bag, it should be used. Punctuation Punctuation marks, such as commas, full stops and underlining make it difficult for the optical character reader to read the address accurately. For example P.O. could be mistaken for RQ. F. could be mistaken for E. Not using punctuation marks will maximise the benefits of optical character readers for first-time sorting of mail. Postbox The postbox number should be on the same line as the words. For example PO Box 12345 Full stops should not be used. Private bag Where a private bag has been given a number, this should be printed on the same line as the words. For example Private Bag X345 If no number has been given, it is important that the correct and full name of the bag holder is indicated in the line above the words Private Bag. Street The street number should be written on the same line immediately before the street name. Mail addressed in Afrikaans may have the number after the street name.The flat or unit number and the flat name may be written on the line above the street name as in the example below: Rural delivery The rural delivery number should always be written above the township, ie: When addressing For the attention of When addressing letters For the attention of a named individual, the salutation should appear at the start of the address structure and not at the end, in other words: Correct Wrong Attention Mr Erasmus Letters Private Bag X45 PRETORIA 0001 Letters Private Bag X45 PRETORIA 0001 Attention Mr Erasmus For the attention of Mr Erasmus Letters Private Bag X45 PRETORIA 0001 Letters Private Bag X45 PRETORIA 0001 For the attention of Mr Erasmus Examples Some examples of good address structures are: Mr N Coetzee PO Box 12803 Hatfield 0028 Electronics Ltd PO Box 12345 BLOEMFONTEIN 9300 Mr E White National Shares Ltd Private Bag X345 DURBAN 4000 Mrs M Smith Blue Wave Fisheries Private Bag X345 PORT ELIZABETH 6000 Attn Mr Smith Plumbers CC 2-173 Avondale Road Bramley 2090 Dirk Erasmus Flat 2 Bellwood Court 173 Park Road Goodwood 7460 Where to place the address Always place the address on the front of the envelope, at least 15 mm from the left, right and bottom edges and fully within the designated scan zone. If the address is to be printed in a window or onto a label, the address should be at least 5 mm from the edge of the window or the label. The label and the window should be positioned in the area described in the above paragraph. The address should not be printed over preprinted borders or address position guide marks. You may incorporate company logos or add other information such as a return address, telephone number, et cetera, preferably on the back or in the top left-hand corner of the envelope as indicated. Writing other information below the address makes reading the address much more difficult and may lead to sorting errors. It is therefore not permitted. If Then More than one window is provided on an envelope The sender's address should appear in the top left-hand window (A) and the addressee's address in the bottom window (B). Position of postcodes A postcode must appear in the address of a postal article immediately below the name of the post office/office of destination, but not after it. Nothing may be added after the last line of the address in which the postcode appears. For example or Postal articles from abroad The following is an example of a postal article meant for delivery in South Africa: Choice of postcodes In certain cases, separate postcodes are allocated for postal articles addressed to box and street addresses. Postal articles intended for street addresses in suburban areas must therefore be addressed in full according to the suburb names and postcodes as published in the Postcode List (available at all post offices). For example For a Write Postbox at the Alrode Post Office Mr J Nel PO Box 300 ALRODE 1451 Street address in the suburb of Alrode Mr J Nel 10 Station Street ALRODE 1449 In all other cases, the relevant postcode must be used, irrespective of whether postal articles are addressed to a box or street address.For purposes of postcodes, the word box includes a private postbox, address box, private bag, poste restante and the postmaster. Postal addresses The address of a postal article is complete when the name of the post office or postal agency concerned, together with the appropriate postcode, appears at the end of the address. There is no need to add further indications such as the province or the name of another post office.

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