South Africa launches National Opt-Out Registry to curb spam calls

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) officially launched the National Opt-Out Registry on 7 October 2026 and is building the national platform to allow consumers to block direct marketing communications. Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau said at the launch that the commission would enforce the law in full from 15 April 2027. Under the NCC’s phased rollout, consumers who have registered will be able to pre-emptively block direct marketers from May 2027.

Registration for direct marketers opened on 15 September 2026 and runs until December 2026. Hardin Ratshisusu, NCC acting commissioner, said enforcement would follow if participation fell short: “If we don't get to the desired number of direct marketers, we have to enforce the regulations.”

Consumers can already sign up through the NCC’s website, thencc.org.za, but Briefly News reported that they may not yet find every company contacting them listed on the system.

Speaking at the launch, Ratshisusu said: “This [is] a momentous occasion for consumers who have for years been flooded with unwanted direct marketing.” He said the registry would promote responsible direct marketing and protect consumers from spam calls, texts, e-mails and other electronic communication.

Why the registry matters

South Africans received 17.47 billion spam calls between January and June 2026, according to Truecaller’s 2026 South Africa Spam Report. Briefly News reported that the volume places the country among the world’s ten most-spammed nations.

Speaking to SABC News, Ratshisusu described the scale of unsolicited calls and the difficulty consumers face identifying or stopping callers. “This is a crisis, as we have said in South Africa, that now consumers are being bombarded with these calls that you don't even know how to block, you don't even know who this person is calling you,” Ratshisusu said.

Speaking at the launch in Pretoria, Tau said consumers were becoming more wary of spam calls: “The share of spam calls that consumers answered fell from 10.2% in the first half of 2025 to 7.8% this year, and consumers block 58.6%. South Africans are becoming more alert.”

Ratshisusu said opting out would be free of charge and straightforward. “From next year, we should be able to have a system, a robust system in the country, that allows you and many other consumers out there to opt out of these calls and do so without incurring any costs or without going through very difficult admin,” he said.

Registration and rollout targets

Briefly News reported that only around 800 direct marketers had joined the platform, far short of the estimated 50,000 operating in the country, and that the NCC has set a target of 20,000 registrations during 2026.

Beyond registrations by direct marketers, the National Consumer Commission aims to attract at least 30 million active users to the platform.

Direct marketers will have a five-month period, from December 2026 to April 2027, to cleanse their marketing lists at no cost.

Legal duties and penalties

Direct marketers must cleanse their contact lists against the National Opt-Out Registry every month before running any campaign, so that consumers who have blocked a marketer do not receive unwanted direct marketing.

Section 11 of the Consumer Protection Act gives consumers the right to block unwanted direct marketing. Tau described how repeated sales calls can intrude on households even after a consumer has rejected an offer.

“The phone rings during a meeting, at the dinner table, while you are waiting for a call from a hospital or your child’s school. You answer, and it is a sales pitch for insurance, a cellphone contract, a loan or a funeral policy. You say no. The next day a different number calls with the same,” Tau said.

Tau gazetted the Consumer Protection Act Amendment Regulations, 2026, empowering the National Consumer Commission to administer the registry. He said consumers’ own efforts to identify suspicious calls were not sufficient without regulatory support.

“But alertness alone cannot substitute for a platform for a proper regulatory backstop. Scam and marketing networks are becoming more sophisticated using spoofing and artificial intelligence to reach consumers. This is precisely the environment the national opt-out registry is designed to address,” Tau said.

Non-compliance may lead to enforcement before the National Consumer Tribunal, which can impose an administrative fine of up to R1 million or 10% of annual turnover.

Tau said the rules were intended to place consent at the centre of direct marketing without prohibiting the activity. “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 support this sector to grow, but it must grow based on consent and respect.”