The SA Post Office universal-service obligation and the regulation of the courier sector.
Dispatch, delivery and collection-point notices: SA Post Office, The Courier Guy, Aramex SA and PUDO lockers
South Africa ships hundreds of millions of parcels a year across the SA Post Office (universal service), The Courier Guy, Aramex SA, Fastway/PUDO lockers and last-mile partners. 4notify normalises carrier-side parcel events into a single envelope schema and delivers out-for-delivery, delivered and collection-point alerts with SMS keywords (CHANGE, LOCKER).
Section 1 — In terms of the Postal Services Act 124 of 1998 and the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, this Indaba is convened on the normalisation and delivery of parcel events.
Delivery rights: default delivery period, the right to refuse undelivered goods and cancellation.
Carrier webhook normalisation
4notify ingests SAPO, The Courier Guy, Aramex SA and PUDO webhooks and converts them into a single envelope.
Collection-point pre-confirmation
A customer SMS reply (LOCKER YES) is captured and forwarded to the carrier API before delivery.
Out-for-delivery window
A two-hour delivery window opens with a notice 60 minutes ahead; a one-tap reschedule link is included.
Delivered + proof of delivery
Delivery confirmation includes a proof-of-delivery photo URL (where the carrier supports it); 28-day envelope retention.
json
{
"event": "parcel.out_for_delivery",
"carrier": "courier_guy",
"tracking": "1234567890123",
"window_start": "2026-05-27T14:00:00+02:00",
"window_end": "2026-05-27T16:00:00+02:00",
"customer_option": {
"reschedule_url": "https://www.thecourierguy.co.za/track/1234567890123",
"locker_available": true
},
"channels": ["sms", "push"]
}The Courier Guy: Your parcel arrives today between 14:00-16:00. Reply CHANGE TUE to reschedule, or LOCKER YES to drop at a PUDO locker. Track: thecourierguy.co.za
- Four carrier webhooks normalised into a single envelope
- SMS keyword parser (LOCKER, CHANGE) implemented
- Collection-point pre-confirmation forwarded to carrier APIs
- 28-day envelope retention documented (CPA)
4notify is the only A2P provider that normalises the major South African parcel networks into one canonical envelope and parses SMS keywords into each carrier's reschedule API.
Can customers reschedule by SMS?
Yes — keyword replies (CHANGE TUE, LOCKER YES) are parsed by 4notify and forwarded to the carrier API where the carrier supports inbound updates.
Do all carriers send the same events?
No — event coverage varies. 4notify normalises into a shared envelope; missing events are synthesised by polling where the carrier API permits.
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