Shipping made simple

Cheap UK shipping to South Africa

Express and Economy South African parcel delivery from only £30.94

Parcelhero delivers more

£50 free parcel protection (not cover)

Collection or drop-off at a local shop

Track your parcel from door-to-door

Send bulky or heavy items weighing up to 1,000kg

Parcelhero makes it fast and affordable to ship your parcel to South Africa. By working with the world’s leading international courier services, we can offer huge savings on delivery to Durban, Cape Town, or any other destination in South Africa. And because they’re the best couriers around, you can trust that whatever parcel you’re sending will be in the best possible hands.

Service rating

4.6 out of 5 based on 18624 user ratings

Mrs Ann Newman-Young

A good value parcel

Very good found a very good price to return an item to India and was kept informed along the way and when it was delivered from the parcel company.

Alexandra Gillies

Always easy

I have used parcel hero twice to organise shipping of items from the UK to Australia - their website is easy to use and always delivers value for money. UPS have been having both time I used them

Wayne Johns

Couldn't have gone smoother.

Service was impeccable. Driver turned up to collect at correct time, despite potentially being a difficult place to find within the hospital. Driver was very smart and polite. Tracking was updated regularly and delivery on date as expected.

Julie Hobby

Great postal site

Very easy to use and managed to ship from the Uk to Australia efficiently and at a good cost. All round an excellent service.

colum lovett

Great experience

Very simple and good value. Crate arrived in good order. Would definitely use again thanks

R Haynes

Parcelhero

Excellent service from Parcelhero, I would say Parcelhero have been the best to deal with first time around.

Jon Norman

Quick and reliable service

Both parcels arrived on schedule

Barry Taylor

Great value service

Easy service to use, good value and parcel delivered within time frame stated.

Alex Borg

Excellent service

Excellent service - recommended

Rhys Edward Wiliams

Best so far

Easily find the best value carrier Cost to NZ I chose was half the other costs However completing the process wasnt always logical

What's on this page?

South Africa's custom rulesProhibited itemsSending food in South AfricaSending antiques to South AfricaSending luggage to South AfricaSouth Africa address formatSouth Africa national holidays

Some of our courier services to South Africa

Express delivery

Next day delivery

Economy delivery

6+ days

Everything you need to know about delivery to South Africa

What are South Africa’s Customs rules?

When shipping a parcel to South Africa, all items must pass through customs before they are delivered.

Customs charges may apply depending on the value and type of goods being sent. In most cases, imported items are subject to 15% VAT, and some products may also incur customs duties based on their category.

Gifts may qualify for a duty-free allowance of up to R1,400, provided they meet certain conditions. These include being sent between private individuals (not businesses), being clearly declared as a gift, and only being sent occasionally (typically no more than two gifts per year). Some items, such as alcohol and tobacco, are excluded from this allowance.

Any parcels that do not meet these conditions, or exceed the allowance, may be subject to VAT, duties, and clearance fees as determined by the South African Revenue Service.

South African VAT is currently set at 14%, which will be levied on the value of any parcel which is above the thresholds for clearing customs.

Is there anything that I am not allowed to send to South Africa?

South Africa is no stranger to strong trade restrictions, but the rules have mellowed significantly in recent years. There are still rules about what you are allowed to bring into the country but, for the most part, they fall in line with what we at Parcelhero are not happy to carry.

You can find a full list of restricted goods on our Restricted and Prohibited Items page, where we explain what you can and can’t ship by courier. You can find more information on prohibited and restricted goods on the official South African customs website.

Can I send food from South Africa to the UK?

There are plenty of tasty treats unique to South Africa, but there are only a few that you are allowed to send by courier. Foods that are homemade or perishable are not allowed, so your grandma’s signature boerewors is unfortunately not allowed. Shipping food internationally requires it to be store bought, and in its original packaging.

Can I send antiques to South Africa?

Since there are some buildings in the UK that are older than South Africa as a country, it’s easy to see the temptation of sending over some antiques. However, shipping valuable antiques is not allowed with most courier services – so you might have to find a specialty courier to do the job instead.

Can I send my luggage to Johannesburg ahead of me?

There are worse destinations than South Africa when you’re off in search of the sun, but with such a long flight, it’s nice to not have to worry about your luggage. That why Parcelhero takes care of things for you, by delivering your luggage right to your hotel room. We’ll take it from your front door too, so there’s less queueing for you to suffer through, all you have to do is ensure it's packaged in a way that is suitable for international shipping.

How do I address a parcel to South Africa?

South Africa is a big place, so it’s important to make sure that you get the address on your parcel absolutely right. Shipping across a country so large takes time, so making a mistake could lead to heavy delays. A South African address must include

Mr John Smith [name]
497 Jacob Mare Street [number and street name]
Pretoria [city or suburb]
0001 [postcode]
SOUTH AFRICA [country]

In South Africa, postcodes are made up of four digits. The first two specify the area the package is destined for, the last two the mode of delivery. For example, in most places codes ending in ‘01’ indicate deliveries to a street address, while ‘00’ indicate delivery to a mail bag.

Are there dates that you don’t deliver?

Everyone deserves a break. In South Africa, Christmas is celebrated in the middle of summer, so we need the chance to hit the beach every now and then. That’s why we only deliver on weekdays, with no parcels arriving on weekends or public holidays. Keep the dates below in mind when booking your shipping.