South Africa opens its national opt-out registry for marketers

South Africa opens its national opt-out registry for marketers

7 October 2026: South Africa's National Consumer Commission has launched the National Opt-Out Registry, a free, government-run list that lets consumers block unwanted marketing calls, SMSes and other electronic messages. Every business that markets directly to South African consumers, or pays an agency or call centre to do it, now has to register and clean its lists against the registry before running a campaign.

Not yet independently verified. The penalty figures and the 15 April 2027 enforcement date come from ITWeb, citing the trade department and law firm ENSafrica, and the draft guidelines are open for comment. The Commission's own statement gives the phases but not those figures. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

The Commission says the registry rests on section 11 of the Consumer Protection Act and on the Consumer Protection Act Amendment Regulations, 2026, which Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau has gazetted. Registration for direct marketers opened on 15 September 2026 and runs until December. The Commission warns that a marketer who fails to register in that window may be contravening the Act afterwards.

From December to April 2027 the Commission will give marketers five months to cleanse their lists at no cost, so they can learn how to connect to the system. Consumers who want to block marketers can register from May 2027. The Commission adds that it will publish further guidance for both groups and run a consumer education programme.

ITWeb reports that the department puts full enforcement from 15 April 2027. It also reports, citing law firm ENSafrica, that the Commission published draft compliance guidelines on 2 October with public comment open until 17 October. Under those drafts a marketer remains responsible when a third party markets on its behalf, including agencies, franchises and branches. ITWeb says breaches can go to the National Consumer Tribunal, which may impose an administrative fine of up to R1 million or 10% of the marketer's annual turnover in the preceding financial year, whichever is greater. The drafts also allow criminal prosecution in serious cases, with a fine or up to 12 months in prison.

The Commission cites Truecaller's 2026 South Africa Spam Report, which counts 17.47 billion spam calls between January and June 2026, up 25.2% on the same period of 2025, and 3.71 billion spam SMSes, up 58.9%.

David Dickens, chief executive of the Direct Marketing Association of Southern Africa, told ITWeb that many members are moving to targeted advertising on Meta, Google and Facebook, which does not require holding contact data.

Sources

• National Consumer Commission: NCC launches the national Opt-Out registry to curb unwanted direct marketing, 7 October 2026
• ITWeb: Opt-out registry arrives as marketers go social, 8 October 2026