The first airmail in SA, consisting of 730 post cards, is flown eight kilometres by Evelyn Driver in his Bleriot plane from Ken

Updated: 30 Sep 2019

The first airmail ever in South Africa took place on 27 December 1911 when Evelyn Driver flew postcards from Kenilworth to Muizenburg. The mail bag was fastened to the back of his seat as he flew the Bleriot monoplane. The plane landed on Oldham’s Field near today’s False Bay Railway Station. The entire flight is said to have lasted only 7, 5 minutes. This historic event meant that Muizenberg post office became the first in Africa to receive air mail. In 2011 the South African post office commemorated a hundred years of this event by printing special post cards.

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How we know this

01Cape Point Route 100 year anniversary of the 1st airmail delivery [online] Available at: www.capepointroute.co.za [Accessed on 7 December 2013]
02Historical Media The First Airmail at the Cape [online] Available at: www.historicalmedia.co.za [Accessed on 7 December 2013]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, December 14). The first airmail in SA, consisting of 730 post cards, is flown eight kilometres by Evelyn Driver in his Bleriot plane from Ken. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071369

South African History Online (2011) 'The first airmail in SA, consisting of 730 post cards, is flown eight kilometres by Evelyn Driver in his Bleriot plane from Ken', South African History Online, 14 December. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071369 (Accessed: 5 October 2026).

South African History Online, The first airmail in SA, consisting of 730 post cards, is flown eight kilometres by Evelyn Driver in his Bleriot plane from Ken [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071369, (accessed 5 October 2026).

"The first airmail in SA, consisting of 730 post cards, is flown eight kilometres by Evelyn Driver in his Bleriot plane from Ken." South African History Online, 14 Dec. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071369. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "The first airmail in SA, consisting of 730 post cards, is flown eight kilometres by Evelyn Driver in his Bleriot plane from Ken." South African History Online. December 14, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0071369.