{"id":865311,"date":"2026-07-02T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=865311"},"modified":"2026-07-02T15:36:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T13:36:49","slug":"say-goodbye-to-spam-calls-as-you-know-them-in-south-africa-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/telecommunications\/865311\/say-goodbye-to-spam-calls-as-you-know-them-in-south-africa-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Say goodbye to spam calls as you know them in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa’s direct marketing landscape is undergoing a massive shift, with new laws imposing harsh penalties on violators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South African consumers have faced a surge in spam messages and calls in recent years, even when consumers explicitly tell direct marketers to stop contacting them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to MyBroadband<\/a>, Truecaller said that monthly spam call volumes were nearly 23% higher on average in the first five months of 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Truecaller added that spam messages had increased at an even faster rate, rising 61.2% over the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the rise in spam, rules governing direct marketing underwent a major shift in April, with the publication of the Consumer Protection Act Amendment Regulations, 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, published the regulations, which amend Regulation 4 of the Consumer Protection Act Regulations, 2011. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law firm Wright Rose-Innes said that the amendments establish a formal opt-out registry, which enables consumers to pre-emptively block unwanted direct marketing communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Consumer Protection Act (CPA) empowers the National Consumer Commission (NCC) to create a registry in which individuals may register a pre-emptive block against direct marketing communications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also allows the Minister to issue regulations governing the operation of such a registry. The recent amendments thus massively expand on the practical implementation of the framework. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes direct marketers now being required to register on the opt-out registry and pay an initial registration fee of R2,574.00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Registration will also need to be renewed annually upon payment of a prescribed renewal fee of R1,930.50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wright Rose-Innes added that direct marketers will now need to be clearly identifiable on public platforms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All electronic communication will also need to include all relevant details, including name and contact details. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Information in the opt-out registry must be kept accurate and up to date. Direct marketing to consumers who have registered a pre-emptive block is strictly prohibited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Direct marketers are also required to clean their databases monthly against the NCC registry to remove consumers who have opted out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The amended regulations further prescribe safeguards regarding the management of the registry,” said Wright Rose-Innes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The NCC is required to use the information collected solely for the administration of the opt-out registry and may not disclose confidential consumer information without consent, except where required by law.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Massive fines on the table <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Consumers who wish to register a pre-emptive block can do so by completing the prescribed form found in the regulations, with the NCC required to publish guidance on its website to assist consumers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCC welcomed the amendments and noted that implementation is scheduled to commence in July 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Direct marketers have been urged to ensure compliance, as those who do not comply with regulations could face massive administrative penalties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These penalties can reach up to R1,000,000 or 10% of the direct marketers\u2019 annual turnover, whichever is greater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The amendments to the CPA Regulations mark a fundamental shift in South Africa\u2019s direct marketing landscape,” said Wright Rose-Innes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For direct marketers, the changes impose substantial compliance obligations, with failure to adhere resulting in significant financial penalties and reputational risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa’s new direct marketing rules impose massive penalties on companies that do not adhere to the new opt-out registry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":857758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[20371,25722,7347,11927,13263],"class_list":["post-865311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-telecommunications","tag-department-of-trade-industry-and-competition","tag-minister-of-trade","tag-national-consumer-commission","tag-truecaller","tag-wright-rose-innes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865311"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":865325,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865311\/revisions\/865325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}