Residents of South Africa will soon be able to use a new government registry to block unwanted marketing calls and messages following a period of sharp increase in spam.
The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has introduced a free National Opt-Out Registry, designed to help consumers exercise their legal right to block direct advertising in accordance with the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
This launch follows a 2026 Truecaller report on spam in South Africa, which recorded 17.47 billion spam calls in the first half of 2026. The number of spam calls increased by 25.2% compared to the same period last year, while spam SMS messages rose by 58.9%, reaching 3.71 billion.
Consumers will only be able to start registering and proactively blocking marketers from May 2027, after businesses have time to register and prepare their marketing databases.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau stated that this registry will eliminate a long-standing gap between consumers' legal rights and their ability to enforce them. He noted that although Section 11.3 of the CPA gives every consumer the right to proactively block unsolicited direct marketing, for 15 years this right existed only formally due to the lack of a centralized registry.
According to Tau, consumers previously had to contact each marketer individually. He added that the scale of unwanted calls undermined consumer trust, as scammers increasingly employ sophisticated methods to reach potential victims. Despite South Africans becoming more vigilant, Tau emphasized that vigilance is insufficient without proper regulatory support.
Figures presented by Tau showed that the proportion of spam calls answered by consumers decreased from 10.2% in the first half of 2025 to 7.8% in the current period, while the number of blocked calls increased by 58.6%. Tau stressed that the goal of the registry is not to ban direct advertising, which supports employment in call center and global business service sectors, but to ensure businesses respect consumer choices.
Executive Commissioner of the NCC, Harding Ratsheso, described the launch as a significant step towards protecting consumers from constant unwanted marketing. He stated that this is an important moment for consumers who have been flooded with unsolicited direct advertising for years.
Ratsheso clarified that the National Opt-Out Registry will promote responsible direct marketing by ensuring consumer protection against unsolicited direct advertising via spam calls, text messages, email, and other electronic communications.
The registry will be implemented in two phases, starting with businesses before consumers can use the system to block marketers.
Phase One: Registration. Direct marketers were given time to register starting September 15, 2026, and they have until December to complete this process. Tau warned that failure to meet the established deadline could be considered a violation of the CPA and its provisions.
Phase Two: Cleansing. From December 2026 to April 2027, companies will have five months to review and cleanse their marketing lists according to the registry free of charge. This will give businesses time to prepare their systems and remove consumers who have opted out of receiving messages before launching advertising campaigns.
Tau announced that the NCC will begin full enforcement of the law on April 15, 2027. Starting in May, consumers registered in the system will be able to proactively block direct marketers from sending them unwanted messages.
Once the system is operational, marketers are required to renew their registration annually and reconcile their contact lists with the registry monthly before running campaigns. Tau also noted that companies are responsible for ensuring compliance with the law by marketing agencies and call centers acting on their behalf.
Violations can be referred to the National Consumer Tribunal, which can impose administrative fines of up to one million rand or 10% of annual turnover, whichever is greater. The NCC has called on both consumers and direct marketers to register in the system and has announced a continuous public education campaign.
Chairperson of the Information Regulator, attorney Pansi Tlakula, stated that the registry will promote responsible marketing while imposing mandatory requirements on businesses. She reported that the NCC consulted with industry stakeholders, including mobile network operators, retailers, real estate sector representatives, and the South African Direct Marketing Association, before implementation.
Tlakula also mentioned that consumer identities will be verified using records from the Department of Home Affairs, which may mean that registration will not lead to immediate blocking. Furthermore, the NCC has identified companies operating under names different from those registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), which could potentially complicate the process of identifying and blocking marketers.