In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise–

"courier service"

means a service provided by a person licensed or registered to provide such a service in terms of this Act;

"Department"

means the Department of Communications;

"Director-General"

means the Director-General of the Department;

"ICT"

means information, communications and technology;

"letter"

means a letter as defined in Schedule 1;

"mail"

means every article collected for conveyance by post and includes loose and individual articles and every mail bag, vessel or conveyance of any kind by which postal articles are carried, whether or not it contains any such articles and every person conveying or delivering mail or postal articles;

"mail bag"

includes any container, bag, box, parcel, basket, envelope or other covering in which postal articles are conveyed, whether or not it contains such articles;

"Master"

means a Master of the High Court acting within the powers conferred upon him or her by law;

"Minister"

means the Minister entrusted with the administration of the Department;

"money order"

means a money order issued in terms of this Act or by any postal authority for payment in terms of this Act;

"National Savings Certificate"

means any National Savings certificate issued under section 56;

"postage"

means the amount payable for the transmission of postal articles;

"postage stamp" or "stamp"

means any piece of paper or other substance or material having thereon the stamp, mark or impression of any die, plate, or other instrument made or used in terms of this Act or by any postal authority for the purpose of denoting any postage or other postal fee;

"postal article"

means any letter, postcard, reply postcard, letter card, envelope, book, packet, pattern or sample packet or any parcel or other article when in the course of transmission by post, and includes a telegram when conveyed by post;

"postal authority"

includes any duly constituted postal authority of any foreign country or place;

"postal company"

means the South African Post Office SOC Ltd, referred to in section 3(1) of the South African Post Office SOC Ltd Act, 2011;

[Definition amended by section 31 of Act No. 22 of 2011]

"postal order"

means a postal order issued under this Act or by any postal authority for payment under this Act;

"postal service"

means a reserved postal service or an unreserved postal service as contemplated in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2, respectively;

"Postbank"

means the Postbank referred to in section 51;

"post office"

includes any house, building, room, vehicle, place or structure where postal articles are received, sorted, delivered, made up or dispatched or which is used for any other purpose in connection with the rendering of any postal, savings, money transfer or other service by the postal company and any pillar box or other receptacle provided by or with the approval of the Department or the postal company for the reception of postal articles;

"prescribed"

means prescribed by regulation under this Act;

"regulation"

means a regulation made under this Act;

"Regulator"

means the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa established in terms of section 3 of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa Act, 2000 (Act No. 13 of 2000);

"reserved postal services"

means the services contemplated in Schedule 1;

"sender"

in relation to any postal article or telegram, means the person from whom that postal article or telegram purports to have come, unless such person proves that he or she is not the sender thereof;

"telecommunications company"

means the telecommunications company contemplated in section 3(1) of the Post Office Act, 1958 (Act No. 44 of 1958);

"telecommunications line"

means a telecommunications line as defined in the Post Office Act, 1958 (Act No. 44 of 1958);

"this Act"

includes the regulations;

"universal postal service"

means a universal service as defined in a licence issued in terms of section 16;

"unreserved postal services"

means the services contemplated in Schedule 2.