[OSGeo Africa] SA POSTAL CODES

[Antony Cooper]

Hi All

Quite frankly, I think that the post codes are a very poor choice as a
spatial data set:

(1) If you do not have the post code district boundaries readily to
hand, it means that none of the people that you work with (clients,
colleagues, suppliers, etc) have them either, so you are not using a
sensible framework for your data.

(2) The post code system was not designed as a way to demarcate space,
but as a way to improve postal sorting.  Hence, the post codes do not
necessarily provide a continuous nor a contiguous coverage of the
country.  Further, the South African Post Office does not necessarily
need to map the boundaries of its post codes for its own use, and it
might benefit post delivery to keep them fluid.

(3) Further, the density of post codes does not necessarily correlate
with the density of the variables of interest to you (eg: population),
and hence could provide unbalanced areas to work with, leading to
invalid analysis.

(4) There is often a very poor correlation between the location of a
post office and the location of a user of that post office.  For
example, the CSIR's post code is 0001, which is for the post office in
the centre of Pretoria, almost 9 km away and with several post codes in
between.  The CSIR is in Brummeria, so spatially, the CSIR's post code
probably should be 0184.

(5) Hence, there is not any unique correlation between a post code and
an area, and vice versa.

Finally, the South African Post Office has enormous problems at the
moment, not just because of the crippling strike last year.  So, even if
it has the necessary expertise, it does not necessarily have the mandate
at the moment and it is unlikely to be a priority.

Regards
Antony

>>> On 2015.01.30 at 14:58, in message <54CB7FF6.6060108 at gmail.com>,
Gavin Fleming
<gavinjfleming at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Niel
> 
> Is the TomTom postcode dataset free and public? If so, great -
please
> send a link! If not, the public needs access to an accurate, open,
free
> data set of postcode boundaries since their official custodian is a
> public entity.
> 
> In an ideal world SAPO would provide this and we should push them to
do so.
> 
> But in the meantime the best practical means to such a dataset it to
> crowdsource it on a platform like OSM. Anyone aware of any such
> initiatives or want to take the lead?
> 
> Gavin
> 
> On 30/01/2015 14:34, Niel Page wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>>  
>>
>> TomTom Africa has as far as I know the most accurate and complete
>> Spatial Data for South Africa Postal Codes. Being at TomTom and
>> knowing how much time and effort had gone into it the last years
and
>> comments from the customers I would suggest using the dataset from
TomTom.
>>
>>  
>>
>> Regards
>>
>>  
>>
>> Niel
>>
>>  
>>
>>  
>>
>> *From:*africa-bounces at lists.osgeo.org 
>> [mailto:africa-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] *On Behalf Of *Chante
Pheiffer
>> (CE)
>> *Sent:* 30 January 2015 01:14 PM
>> *To:* Africa local chapter discussions
>> *Subject:* Re: [OSGeo Africa] SA POSTAL CODES
>>
>>  
>>
>> Hi
>>
>>  
>>
>> I only have the excel spread sheet for you.
>>
>>  
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Chante
>>
>>  
>>
>> *From:*africa-bounces at lists.osgeo.org 
>> <mailto:africa-bounces at lists.osgeo.org>
>> [mailto:africa-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] *On Behalf Of *Nepfumbada
Takalani
>> *Sent:* Friday, January 30, 2015 11:42 AM
>> *To:* Africa at lists.osgeo.org <mailto:Africa at lists.osgeo.org>
>> *Subject:* [OSGeo Africa] SA POSTAL CODES
>>
>>  
>>
>> Hi
>>  
>>  Does anyone know where I can find shape files for SA POSTAL CODES?
>>  STREET CODES would be useful too.
>>  
>>  Thanks
>>
>>  
>>
>>
>>
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Gavin Fleming
> t: 0218620670
> w: 0218630660
> c: 0845965680
> f: 0866164820
> Paarl
> South Africa
> 18*59'19.6"E 33*44'46.1"S
> 
> 
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This message is subject to the CSIR's copyright terms and conditions, e-mail legal notice, and implemented Open Document Format (ODF) standard. 
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