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    South Africa address format & examples

    How to write a South African address

    Howzit? Put on your Madiba shirts and say “aweh” (cool) to the South Africa address format guide you’ve been searching for. You can feel like breaking into some Gumboot dancing while excitedly browsing our South African address format examples here and while you try our suite of address validation tools for addresses in South Africa below. Just enter an address, and we'll format, standardize, and validate the address faster than you can play the marimba.

    Let’s explore some of the generalities of South African addresses. We’ll even provide you with a South African postal address example. The South African address format for shipping or mailing addresses should be written as follows:

    1. Addressee line - The recipient's full name. Who are you sending things to?
    2. House or building number and street name - The premise number followed by the street name go on this line. They should be included in that order and without separating punctuation.
    3. Locality - The locality will get its very own, special row. Don’t put anything else on this line.
    4. Postal code - The postal code goes on the next line.
    5. COUNTRY - Write “ZAF” in all caps on the last line.
    South Africa mailing address format example on an envelope

    South Africa address examples

    Residential address example3 South St Lorentzville Johannesburg 2094 ZAF
    Address example with unitsAp. 6 130 Tygerberg St Richmond Estate Cape Town 7460 ZAF
    Postal box example1002 Fiona St PO Box 12 Ridgeway Johannesburg 2091 ZAF
    Commercial address example21 Junction Ave Parktown Johannesburg 2193

    Smarty address validation tools

    Smarty® has a suite of address validation tools that can format, standardize, and validate South Africa addresses, plus addresses in 240+ other countries and territories worldwide. Validate your South African address with our tools.
    Use the Single Address Verification Tool to verify and format 1 address at a time, the Bulk Address Validation Tool to verify and format a list addresses simultaneously, or use the International Street Address API to integrate address validation and formatting programmatically into your software systems and workflows.
    Single Address Verification ToolBulk Address Validation ToolInternational Street Address API

    Postal information

    South Africa's national postal system, "South African Post Office," was established in 1788. As of recent data, South African Post Office services approximately 81,570 addresses, reflecting its extensive reach throughout South Africa. The organization manages a substantial network, indicative of its role as a major postal service provider in the region.
    Administrative area types and count
    9 provinces
    Administration area names and abbreviations

    Eastern Cape - EC Free State - FS Gauteng - GP KwaZulu-Natal - KZN Limpopo - LP Mpumalanga - MP Northern Cape - NC North West - NW Western Cape - WC

    Term to describe postal codes
    postal code
    Postal code in language
    postal code
    Postal code format
    9999
    Postal service provider and website

    South African Post Office

    https://www.postoffice.co.za

    Country information

    Put on your Kwaito music and dance for joy. We’re going to go through South Africa address formats with even more examples and even more depth.

    Country/territory name
    South Africa
    ISO3
    ZAF
    ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code
    ZA
    ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code
    ZAF
    ISO 3166-1 numeric country code
    710
    Endonym
    South Africa
    Total land area
    1,219,090 KM²
    Capital
    Pretoria (administrative), Cape Town (legislative), Bloemfontein (judicial)
    Other major cities
    Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth

    Population information

    Total population
    60,414,495 (2023)
    Urban / rural distribution
    67% / 33%
    Urban population
    40,477,712
    Rural population
    19,936,783
    Official language
    11 official languages, including isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans, English
    All languages spoken
    Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, English
    Most commonly used postal language
    English
    CC-BY 4.0 from worldbank.org

    Countries and territories related to South Africa

    Now that you've seen our South African address examples and have become a wizard at South Africa address formats, why not expand your expertise even further? Explore our detailed guides for related countries and territories to see how their address formats and examples vary.
    Visit the global address formats page or Africa address formats page for more information on all the other countries and territories we cover. You can also read or read our article about international address verification to learn more.
    AlgeriaAngolaBeninBotswanaBurkina FasoBurundiCameroonCape VerdeCentral African RepublicChadComorosCongoDemocratic Republic of the CongoDjiboutiEgyptEquatorial GuineaEritreaEswatini (formerly Swaziland)EthiopiaGabonGambiaGhanaGinueaGuinea-BissauIvory CoastKenyaLesothoLiberiaLibyaMadagascarMalawiMaliMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMoroccoMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaRéunionRwandaSaint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da CunhaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSenegalSeychellesSierra LeoneSomaliaSudanTogoTunisiaUgandaWestern SaharaZambiaZimbabwe
    *Data updated as of April 11, 2025

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