The ISO 9001: 2008 standard's contribution towards the delivery of mail at the South African Post Office

• Main Author: Nthite, Lesego
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: South African Post Office; Total quality management; ISO 9000 standard (9001:2008); Quality assurance; Postal service standards
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8113

M.Tech. === The South African Post Office or SAPO is the national postal service of South Africa and is owned by South African government. It employs 17000 people and operates more than 2400 postal outlets throughout the country. The history of SAPO can be tracked back to over 500 years. In 1994 South Africa was readmitted to the universal union following the end of apartheid. SAPO currently operates under a 25 year license granted by the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and in terms of this must provide a universal service to all citizens of the country. The monthly service delivery performance target as set out by the postal regulator (ICASA) is 98%. With the current pressures of having to deliver services according to the license agreement with the regulator, it becomes imperative that SAPO has to improve its business process in order to enable it to meet and exceed set delivery standards with the aim of satisfying its customer’s needs. Throughout the 1990’s the South African Post Office (SAPO) has been offering communication system that was used even before cell phones were introduced and it is still one of the communications channels (SAPO history). As a result there has been increased interest in the application of total quality management (TQM) principles. The emergence of the revised ISO 9000 standard (9001:2008) now permits the South African Post Office gain advantages to improve their performance in a manner that can be measured and monitored precisely.