For South Africans weary of unsolicited calls and messages, the National Consumer Commission has launched an opt-out registry to help curb a problem that generated 17.47 billion spam calls in the first half of 2026.
According to Truecaller’s 2026 South Africa Spam Report, spam calls increased by 25.2% in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, while spam SMS's rose by 58.9% to 3.71 billion.
The free, government-administered National Opt-Out Registry is intended to help consumers exercise their legal right to block direct marketing under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA). However, consumers will only be able to register and pre-emptively block marketers from May 2027, after businesses have had time to register and prepare their marketing databases.
Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau said the registry would address a longstanding gap between consumers’ legal rights and their ability to exercise them.
“Section 11.3 of the Consumer Protection Act gives every consumer the right to pre-emptively block unwanted direct marketing. But for 15 years, that right existed largely on paper. There was no central registry,” Tau said at the launch.
“Consumers had to chase marketers one by one.”
Tau said the scale of unsolicited calls was eroding consumer confidence, with scammers increasingly using sophisticated techniques to reach potential victims.
“South Africans are becoming more alert. But alertness alone cannot substitute for a proper regulatory backstop,” he said.
Figures he cited showed that the proportion of spam calls answered by consumers fell from 10.2% in the first half of 2025 to 7.8% in the corresponding period this year, while the number of calls blocked increased by 58.6%.
Tau stressed that the registry was not intended to prohibit direct marketing, which supports employment in the call-centre and global business services sectors, but to ensure businesses respected consumers’ choices.
NCC acting commissioner Hardin Ratshisusu described the launch as a significant step towards protecting consumers from persistent unsolicited marketing.
“This is a momentous occasion for consumers who have for years been flooded with unwanted direct marketing,” Ratshisusu said.
“The National Opt-Out Registry will promote responsible direct marketing, ensuring consumers are protected from unwanted direct marketing through spam calls, texts, e-mails and other electronic communication.”
The rollout will take place in two phases, beginning with businesses before consumers can use the registry to block marketers.
Phase one: Registration. Direct marketers have been able to register since September 15, 2026, and have until December to do so. Tau warned that failure to register within the stipulated period could constitute a contravention of the CPA and its regulations.
Phase two: Cleansing. From December 2026 to April 2027, businesses will have five months to check and cleanse their marketing lists against the registry at no cost. This will give them time to prepare their systems and remove consumers who have opted out before conducting marketing campaigns.
Tau said the NCC would enforce the law in full from April 15, 2027. From May, consumers registered on the system will be able to pre-emptively block direct marketers from sending them unwanted communications.
Once the system is operational, marketers will have to renew their registration annually and check their contact lists against the registry every month before conducting campaigns. Tau said companies would also be responsible for ensuring that marketing agencies and call centres acting on their behalf complied with the law.
Contraventions may be referred to the National Consumer Tribunal, which can impose administrative fines of up to R1 million or 10% of annual turnover, whichever is greater.
The NCC has urged consumers and direct marketers to register on the system and said it would conduct a sustained public education campaign.
Information Regulator chairperson Advocate Pansy Tlakula said the registry would promote responsible marketing while placing enforceable obligations on businesses.
She said the NCC had consulted industry stakeholders, including mobile network operators, retailers, property-sector representatives and the Direct Marketing Association of Southern Africa, ahead of implementation.
Consumers’ identities will be verified against Home Affairs records, Tlakula said, meaning registration may not result in an immediate block.
The NCC had also identified companies operating under names different from those registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), potentially complicating the process of identifying and blocking marketers.