The South African Post Office (SAPO) has released a special stamp to mark 25 years of democracy to mark the end of apartheid rule in 1994 with the election of Nelson Mandela as the county’s first black African president.
“The stamp effectively puts a seal on the key democratic rights that the Post Office has delivered to South Africans over the past 25 years,” SAPO chief executive Mark Barnes said on Friday.
One of these rights is that since 1994, the Post Office has given formal addresses to seven million households in deep rural and informal settlements. Before this development, the residents in these areas had no formal addresses at all.
“This enables them to open a bank account and have a working cell phone. Because the address includes GPS markers, citizens who use these new addresses can be found by an emergency service – no matter how informal their settlement,” Barnes said
Designed by the post office’s graphic designer, Rachel Ackermann, the artwork on the stamp uses a combination of water colours and digital artwork, and features a man holding the South African flag, looking out over the ocean to a symbolic future for all.
The stamp costs US$2.00 – the rate for a registered letter and is available at all major post.
NM/jn/APA