South Africa’s spam calls reached 17.5 billion within the first half of 2026. Now, the federal government needs corporations to show they’ve checked who they name earlier than they press ship.
The National Consumer Commission (NCC), South Africa’s shopper watchdog, launched a National Opt-Out Registry on Wednesday that may enable customers to block undesirable direct advertising pre-emptively.
The registry is a part of a sweeping authorities effort to sort out South Africa’s rising spam-call downside. Marketers may have to register with the system and cleanse their lists each month earlier than working campaigns. Fintechs, banks, telcos, insurers, retailers and different digital companies will want to construct shopper opt-outs into their advertising methods.
Truecaller’s 2026 South Africa Spam Report discovered that there have been 17.5 billion spam calls between January and June, 25.2% increased than the identical interval in 2025. Spam brief message service (SMS) messages additionally jumped 58.9% to 3.7 billion
The numbers assist clarify why the NCC is shifting past asking customers to ignore or block undesirable messages and is as a substitute placing obligations on the businesses sending them.
Parks Tau, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, mentioned the growing sophistication of spam and scams required a stronger regulatory response.
“South Africans are becoming more alert, but alertness alone cannot substitute for a proper regulatory backstop,” Tau mentioned on the launch. “Scam and marketing networks are becoming more sophisticated, using spoofing and artificial intelligence to reach consumers.”
The registry offers impact to Section 11 of the Consumer Protection Act, which supplies customers the precise to block undesirable direct advertising communication. Tau believes the difficulty relates to information and privateness, as extra corporations depend on private data to attain potential clients.
“Section 14 of our Constitution guarantees everyone the right to privacy. A person’s phone number, email address and time are not raw material to be harvested and traded without their consent,” he mentioned.
For corporations, nevertheless, the problem shall be translating that precept into their current advertising methods.
The NCC mentioned direct entrepreneurs have been in a position to register on the registry since September 15 and have till December 2026 to full their registration. They will then have 5 months, from December to April 2027, to cleanse their advertising lists and put together to interface with the system without charge.
From May 2027, registered customers shall be in a position to pre-emptively block direct entrepreneurs from contacting them.
The registry means corporations may have to account for the registry earlier than launching campaigns, doubtlessly requiring adjustments to buyer databases, campaign-management instruments and inner compliance processes.
“This is a momentous occasion for consumers who have for years been flooded with unwanted direct marketing,” Hardin Ratshisusu, the NCC’s Acting Commissioner, mentioned. “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 NCC mentioned the phased rollout will give companies time to put together and that it’s going to publish additional steerage whereas working a shopper training programme.
True scale calls for shifting past surface-level integrations to strong execution. We’ve filtered the noise out of Moonshot 2026, optimising the convention strictly for high-calibre connections between startup founders, international monetary operators, enterprise leaders and people rewiring Africa’s technical frameworks.
Get 20% off Early Bird tickets for a limited time.
