South Africa, officially known as the Republic of South Africa, is located at the southern tip of the African continent, surrounded by the sea and bordering in the north with Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Swaziland. In the middle of the country is the enclave of Lesotho, a kingdom entirely surrounded by South Africa. On the southern coast lies the Cape of Good Hope. To the east of that, Cape Agulhas is the southern tip of the continent, where the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean meet.
South Africa - Divided Country
The Federal Republic has three distinct capitals: Pretoria, the headquarters of the Government, heads the executive branch; Cape Town houses Parliament's legislative power; and Bloemfontein holds the Court of Appeal, the headquarters of the judiciary.
Due to colonization, the notion of Apartheid was born, influencing the Republic of South Africa and envisaging an organized ethnic division between the "white" and the "black" population. The notion of Apartheid was not only of an ideological nature but also influenced the geographical allocation and racial segregation in the country.
Since 1945, so-called Homelands have been founded, constituted by the territories of the traditional tribes and after the war agreements, also with their partners. There were altogether ten of these traditional divisions in South Africa. With targeted and forced transfers, attempts were made to avoid the strengthening of a unified state dominated by the black population.
For this reason, citizens of color were deported to the reserves, which officially had their own administration. From this system, at the end of the nineties, the new South African administrative system emerged, which became operative in 1994 with the end of Apartheid and envisaged the reintegration of the quasi-independent Homelands into the political structure of South Africa.
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The New Administrative System
The former provinces (Capo, Natal, Orange, and Transvaal) have been replaced by nine new provinces, which are nowadays divided into 52 districts. These nine provinces are the Western Cape Province, the North Cape Province, the Eastern Cape Province, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, the Northwestern Provinces, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo.
For this reason, the postal codes system, which was established before the end of the Apartheid, does not exactly follow the provincial boundaries but is oriented to five large postal regions.
South Africa is the 23rd most populous country globally, with more than 59 million people living here. The total area of the country is 1,221,037 square kilometers. Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa. Almost 80% of the residents here are of Black African ancestry.
Four Numbers for South Africa
In South Africa, the postal codes are made up of four numbers. This system has existed since 1973 in the country most located to the south of the entire continent, when the republic was still composed of the old provinces and the Homelands.
Considering the numeric code, the first two numbers refer to the five postal provinces, which are tied only in a very broad sense to the nine provinces of today. The last two digits are for the location respectively for the postal district. On the other hand, the names of the province are only indicated if the ZIP code is not present.
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In large cities, it is also common to use the neighborhood name in combination with the postal code, without mentioning the name of the street. For example, to arrange an expedition to the University of Pretoria (located in the Hatfield neighborhood), then you must use the following address:
University of Pretoria
Hatfield
0028
SOUTH AFRICA
Brief History of Postcodes on Postcards (Proto Zip Codes Postal Codes)
Postal Code Structure
Postal codes in South Africa consist of a 4-digit code. The last two digits of the postal codes in Africa represent the mode of delivery, in the case of large towns and cities.
The South African postal code system was previously used in Namibia, then "South West Africa", including the enclave of Walvis Bay, which remained part of South Africa until 1994.
Area and Street Level Formats
The Area format is used for large regions, such as municipalities. The Street level format is used for more specific locations, like streets or blocks. Not all countries use both formats.
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South Africa is based on the black majority, and it has a significant number of rural inhabitants who lead impoverished lives largely. The cultural tradition survives strongly among these people. It is because black people have become Westernized and urbanized; ultimately, aspects of the culture here have declined.
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