Every business that sends marketing calls, SMSes or electronic messages to consumers now has a registration deadline. The National Consumer Commission (NCC) launched the National Opt-Out Registry on Wednesday, 7 October 2026, and direct marketers that do not register in the window may not contact consumers for direct marketing at all.
The registry lets consumers block unwanted direct marketing calls, SMSes and other electronic communications. Section 11 of the Consumer Protection Act gives the NCC the power to run it. Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau launched it in Pretoria. He said the share of spam calls that consumers answered fell from 10.2% in the first half of 2025 to 7.8% this year, and that consumers block 58.6% of them, according to The Citizen’s report.
What marketers must do before December
Registration opened on 15 September 2026 and stays open until December 2026. Marketers must register and renew every year. The NCC’s launch statement says that failing to register may breach section 11 of the Act, and unregistered marketers may not contact consumers for direct marketing.
Registered marketers must also cleanse their contact lists against the registry before running a campaign. The NCC says the cleansing has to happen monthly. From December 2026 to April 2027, marketers have a five-month cleansing period, and The Citizen reports that the commission will bear the cost of that cleansing.
Every message must also show who sent it. Marketers must include their name, address and contact number, and they may not hide their numbers.
The NCC describes the registry as a free, government-administered service for consumers. The obligations fall on the marketers who use it, not on the people who block them. Consumers who are still contacted after blocking a marketer can report it to the NCC, The Citizen reports.
Old consent no longer protects a contact list
Once a consumer registers a block, the marketer must remove that person from its lists, whatever consent was given in the past. The Citizen reports that this includes consent buried in old contract fine print. Consumers can block a particular marketer across the whole industry, change their choices at any time, and register even if they agreed to marketing earlier. Changes take effect 30 days after registration.
For any firm that has relied on opt-ins collected years ago, this changes the value of its database. A contact that looked usable last year may have to be dropped before the next campaign goes out.
What non-compliance could cost
Non-compliant companies can be referred to the National Consumer Tribunal, which may impose administrative fines of up to R1 million or 10% of annual turnover, according to The Citizen. The Citizen reports that full enforcement begins on 15 April 2027. The NCC’s own launch statement gives a different date for when consumers can start blocking, so check the commission’s notices before relying on either date.
Tau said the government is giving businesses time to adjust, given the strong engagement earlier in the year, and that he expects compliance. Over 400 direct marketers attended a July webinar, the report says. He put the policy plainly: “Direct marketing is a legitimate business activity.” He added that the sector must grow on the basis of consent and respect.
Steps to take this month
Start by confirming who does the registering. If an agency, call centre or software vendor runs your marketing, check that it has registered or will do so before December. Next, map every channel you use, including calls, SMSes and email, so that the cleansing exercise covers all of them. Keep a record of each campaign and the list it used, so you can show what was sent and when.
Because the cleansing is monthly, it is a routine rather than a one-off project. Build the check into the approval step for each campaign, so that no list goes out before it has been compared against the registry. Tau’s remarks suggest that the commission expects marketers to treat consent as something to be earned and kept current, not assumed from an old form.
The NCC’s website is at thencc.org.za. For the wider calendar of deadlines that recur through the year, see our compliance calendar guide. Where marketing lists hold personal information, our guide to a POPIA response plan covers the data-protection duties that run alongside these rules, and our regulatory and policy coverage tracks related changes.
