The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has launched the national opt-out registry system that will allow consumers to pre-emptively block unwanted direct marketing communication.

According to Truecaller's ‘2026 South Africa Spam Report’, South Africans received 17.47-billion spam calls between January and June this year, up 25.2% on the same period in 2025.

Spam SMSes rose by 58.9%, to 3.71-billion. The opt-out registry, therefore, aims to bring relief to South Africans bombarded with unwanted direct marketing communication.

During a media briefing on October 7, NCC commissioner Hardin Ratshisusu explained that the national opt-out registry would promote responsible direct marketing, ensuring consumers were protected from unwanted direct marketing through spam calls, texts, emails and other electronic communication.

“The registry gives every South African consumer a free government-administered mechanism to stop any unwanted direct marketing calls, SMSes and other electronic communications and places clear, enforceable obligations on direct marketers operating in the country,” he said.

The opt-out registry places an obligation on direct marketers to register on the system and cleanse their list monthly before running any direct marketing campaign. This is to ensure that consumers who have enacted a block against a direct marketer do not receive any unwanted direct communication.

Additionally, for consumers, an effective opt-out registry under Section 11 of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) means that consumers must register and pre-emptively block direct marketers.

Ratshisusu noted that the registry would be implemented across two phases to allow direct marketers and consumers to register on the system.

The first phase will focus on registration. The system will be open to direct marketers for registration from September 15 and will be open until December. 

Should a direct marketer fail to register during the period of registration, such failure after this period may constitute a contravention of Section 11 of the CPA, read together with the CPA Amendment Regulations 2026.

Section 11 of the CPA provides consumers the right to block unwanted direct marketing communication.

The second phase involves cleansing, whereby the NCC will afford direct marketers the opportunity to cleanse their marketing lists over a period of five months, from December this year to April 2027, at no cost to direct marketers.

This will allow direct marketers to understand the cleansing process and make necessary preparations to interface with the system.

After the completion of these phases, and from May 2027, consumers who have registered on the opt-out registry will be able to pre-emptively block direct marketers from unwanted direct marketing.

Ratshisusu said the NCC would run a sustained consumer education programme and publish further guidance for both consumers and direct marketers.

“With the launch of this registry, we take a significant step in managing direct access marketing and significantly curbing spam calling and messaging,” said Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau during the briefing.

He explained that all direct marketers must register and renew their registration every year, noting that an unregistered marketer may not contact any consumer for direct marketing.

He reiterated the point that every registered marketer must cleanse its list against the registry every month before running any campaign and every communication must be traceable with the marketer's name, address and contact number.

“This is not a ban on direct marketing. Direct marketing is a legitimate business activity. It supports jobs, including our global business services and call centre sector, which employs many young South Africans. We want this sector to grow, we support this sector to grow, but it must grow on the basis of consent and respect,” the Minister said.