{"id":877986,"date":"2026-10-02T11:10:59","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T09:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=877986"},"modified":"2026-10-02T12:24:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T10:24:26","slug":"say-goodbye-to-spam-calls-in-south-africa-with-a-big-catch-for-political-parties-and-charities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/877986\/say-goodbye-to-spam-calls-in-south-africa-with-a-big-catch-for-political-parties-and-charities\/","title":{"rendered":"End of an era for spam calls in South Africa – with a big catch for political parties and charities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has gazetted draft guidelines for the new national consumer opt-out registry for public comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document offers practical guidelines for companies to follow, as the NCC prepares to launch its opt-out registry to protect consumers from unsolicited marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legal framework governing the establishment and operation of the opt-out registry is premised on section 11 of the CPA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This section provides that every person has a right to privacy and to avoid or pre-emptively block any approach or communication that is primarily for the purpose of direct marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2026 amendments to the regulations operationalise the opt-out registry and introduce requirements relating to direct marketer registration, renewal, database cleansing, compliance with pre-emptive blocks, identification of direct marketers and prescribed fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft guideline also clarifies several questions that have arisen around the registry and what constitutes direct marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, not all business communication qualifies as direct marketing under the new rules\u2014it comes down to purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A call to administer an existing transaction, arrange delivery, resolve an account or complaint, provide support or perform a contractual obligation is not automatically direct marketing,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the guidelines also specify that these kinds of calls could become direct marketing calls if the business tries to on-sell or pitch products at the end of such a call.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A call made to resolve an account query may be permissible, but an unsolicited sales pitch added to that call is direct marketing and must comply with the CPA, the Opt-Out Regulations and applicable privacy law,” the NCC said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCC said that using a third party\u2014such as a call centre or marketing agency\u2014also does not remove the direct marketer’s compliance responsibility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The business should ensure that its service providers comply with the CPA and Regulations and that required registration and cleansing arrangements are in place.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Political parties and charities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Photo: Seth Thorne<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The guidelines also address questions around political parties and charities cold-calling consumers for donations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCC said that, while political campaigning for votes, or charities calling to educate or inform, does not ordinarily constitute “direct marketing”, things change when money gets involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For political parties, soliciting consumers for political support is not direct marketing, as the purpose is not to promote goods or services for a fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, where a political organisation solicits donations<\/strong> from individuals<\/strong>, that communication may constitute direct marketing and may therefore fall within the Opt-Out Registry regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar stance is held by non-profit organisations, such as charities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCC said that NPOs aren’t automatically excluded from the opt-out registry just because they are a non-profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An NPO would be regarded as a direct marketer where it approaches persons, including by telephone, SMS, email or other covered means, for the purpose of requesting a donation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, an NPO would generally not be regarded as a direct marketer where its communication is purely for administrative, informational, educational, or awareness-related purposes, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, if this is followed up by a request for donations, the NPO would then find itself under the direct marketing label.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The CPA’s definition of direct marketing expressly includes a request for a donation<\/strong>,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For NPOs and political parties, the donation solicitation caveat applies only to individuals\u00a0with an annual turnover of less than R2 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCC said that non-compliance with the regulations may lead to a complaint being lodged with the commission against a direct marketer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This would lead to investigations, compliance notices, referrals to the National Consumer Tribunal and possible penalties against the business or organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In serious cases, contraveners may face criminal prosecution. Convicted persons may be fined or imprisoned for a period not exceeding 12 months under the CPA,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Complaints will first be investigated before a compliance notice or a referral application to impose a penalty is made. Compliance responsibility extends to agencies, franchises and branches.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The draft guidelines are available below. Stakeholders have 15 days to make submissions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • In writing to: National Consumer Commission, 01 Dr Lategan Road, Block C, Groenkloof, Pretoria<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Emailing: J.Mbeje@thencc.org.za and N.Ngobeni@thencc.org.za <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n