History

On 2 March 1792 the acting governor of the Cape, Johan Isaac Rhenius, opened the first  Post Office in a room next to the pantry at the Castle in Cape Town. This was the first Post Office in Southern Africa and the start of what became the South African Post Office.

The Cape Triangular is the first postage stamp that was issued in South Africa on 1 September 1853 and the first triangular stamp in the world. It was designed by Charles Davidson Bell.

South African Post Office Museum

The museum was started in 1974 and an exhibition was set up in Proes Street, Pretoria. When the South African Post Office and Telkom split in 1991 the museum was divided accordingly.

The museum currently consists of:

- The collection which is kept at Philatelic Services in Silverton.

- The display at Church Square.

The museum is responsible for the preservation of the South African Post Office’s institutional memory. As the only postal museum in South Africa the museum is dedicated to the preservation, study and presentation of postal history and philately using exhibitions, educational programmes and research to make this special history available to scholars, philatelists, collectors, Post Office employees and visitors from around the world.

The collection of unique objects, art and philately forms the core of the museum activities for exhibitions, public programmes and research. The object collection portrays the postal history of South Africa. The museum does not have a representative postal history collection, but focus on collecting objects from Post Offices and individuals from all over South Africa and further afield to make the collections more representative.

Visit the Museum exhibition

The history of the South African Post Office is displayed at the museum on Church Square.

South African Post Office Museum
Palace Street
Church Square
Pretoria
Gauteng
South Africa

Business Hours:

Monday – Friday 09:00-15:00 Closed on weekends and public holidays

Entrance Fee:

Visitors Free

Programmes

Tourism and Educational Programmes as per prior arrangement.
Contact the museum by sending an email to talita.fourie@postoffice.co.za

Appraisal value of collected stamps

The South African Post Office Museum and its staff cannot estimate values or perform appraisals of stamps or other objects, nor does the museum have free packets of stamps and stamps available for distribution through the mail.

Stamps and Philately

Collectors can view our Philately section, buy from our Curio Shop at the Museum, or order stamps from sa.stamps@postoffice.co.za