Having a post box has allowed many South Africans and South African businesses to receive mail reliably. It’s an affordable way to have a fixed address or location to collect your mail. 

Therefore, if your property doesn’t have frequent deliveries from the post office, if you are concerned that your letters and packages may be stolen, if you receive confidential letters, if you’re a renter or temporary resident, or if you want a permanent address for your business, having a post box is the solution. For years the post office has provided post boxes and private bags at affordable annual rates that you can access at any time.

But, with post offices having inconvenient trading days and hours, renewing your post office box or private bag is far more challenging than collecting your mail. For that reason, being able to renew your post office box online is not only convenient but ensures your post box won’t be cancelled accidentally. So, if you’re asking, “how do I renew my post office box online?” This step-by-step guide will help you complete the process.

Cost of Renewing A Post Office Box in South Africa

The post office has opened post office renewals for 2022 on 1 October 2021, now post box and private bag holders can pay their annual fee for 2022. To encourage post box holders and private bag holders to renew earlier, all renewals made between 1 October 2021 and 30 November 2021 will be subject to an early bird special. This means the cost for 2022 renewals during the early bird special will be as follows:

• Postbox R585 
• Postbox (for pensioners) R340
• Private Bag R2,330

However, once the early bird special ends – so from the 1 December 2021 – post box and private holders will be subject to additional fees. 

Additionally, you can get a free PO Box if you’re a smallholding owner or a farmer. 

How To Use Virtual Post Office to Renew Your Post Box Online

Being able to renew your post office box online means you can skip the queues and renew your post office box at any time, similarly to many of the benefits of using a PO Box or private bag.

Given that South Africans can renew their post offices from 1 October 2021, now is the perfect opportunity to renew your post office box. 

Step 1: Visit The Virtual Post Office Website

To renew your post office box online, you need to start by going to the virtual post office website, which you can access here.

Step 2: Register for an Account

If you haven’t created a virtual post office account before, you’ll be required to register for an account.

You can click “Register” at the top right of the screen, where you’ll be redirected to the registration page. From there, you’ll need to select the type of user you are. 

You have three choices:

• Individual User (South African Citizen)
• Individual User (Foreigner)
• Business User

Select the one that most accurately describes your purpose for using the post office box or private bag.

From there, you’ll need to input your details, including name, surname, ID or passport number, cell phone number and email address. If you selected “business user,” you will also need to include your business name and registration number when signing up.

Once you’ve input these details, click “submit.”

Step 3: Login Using Your Temporary Details

After you’ve submitted your information, the post office will send temporary login details – username and password – to the email address you provided. You can then log in to your account using this information. After logging in for the first time, the virtual post office system will prompt you to create a new unique password for your account, which you will use to access your account going forward.

Step 4: Make Payment

Once you’ve created your permanent password, click on PO Boxes in your navigation menu. From here, you’ll be able to select the PO Box or Private Bag Renewal Notice. Once you’ve clicked on the PO Box or private bag renewal notice, you will be redirected to a secure webpage where you can make payment. 

Before making payment, verify that the details about your PO Box are accurate.

At the moment, the virtual post office only accepts the following forms of payment when renewing your post box online:

• Visa and Mastercard Credit Cards (This may apply to online secure Visa and MasterCard debit cards)
• Masterpass
• EFT (this option is only available to business users)

It’s important to note that if you haven’t renewed your post box or private bag by 31 January in any given year, you will be charged a R40 late payment penalty.

Step 5: Receive Proof of Payment

To be sure the post office has received your payment, you should ensure you have received proof of payment from the virtual post office. Once the post office has successfully received the funds from your virtual post office payment, they will send a tax invoice in PDF format to the email address associated with your virtual post office account. 

If you haven’t received this notice from the post office, double-check your account status. It should say “paid” if the funds have been received.

Renewing Your Post Office Box At the Post Office

If you are wary about renewing your post office box online, you can still go to your nearest post office to renew your box. This is also a convenient option because you don’t need to renew your PO Box or Private Bag at the post office where your box is located. Instead, you can renew it at any post office in the country.

All post offices in the country should have working card machines to make the process far more convenient, and with plenty of post offices in malls, you can renew your PO box when you’re completing other errands.

If you have any queries about renewing online, you can contact the post office on 0860 111 502 or send an email to [email protected], or consider following them on social media for updates. You can follow the Post Office on Twitter @postofficesa.