The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has gazetted draft guidelines for a new national consumer opt-out registry, inviting public comment for the next 15 days. The guidelines spell out how companies, political parties and charities must treat unsolicited marketing communications under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
In plain terms, an opt-out registry is a database where consumers can register a preference not to receive direct-marketing calls, SMS, emails or other outreach. Section 11 of the CPA guarantees every person the right to privacy and to block communications that are primarily for direct marketing. The 2026 amendments to the Opt-Out Regulations operationalise this right, adding requirements for direct-marketer registration, renewal, database cleansing, compliance with pre-emptive blocks, identification of direct marketers and prescribed fees.
According to the NCC, not every business call counts as direct marketing. Calls that simply administer an existing transaction, arrange delivery, resolve an account issue, provide support or fulfil a contractual obligation are exempt, unless the caller adds a sales pitch or upsell at the end. The commission gave an example: a call to resolve an account query is permissible, but if the same call ends with an unsolicited sales pitch it becomes direct marketing and must comply with the CPA, the Opt-Out Regulations and privacy law.
The draft also makes clear that using a third-party call centre or marketing agency does not shift compliance responsibility. The business that initiates the contact must ensure its service providers are registered, keep their databases clean and follow the same rules.
Political parties and charities
The NCC addressed a common question about cold-calling by political parties and non-profit organisations (NPOs). While campaigning for votes or informing the public does not automatically count as direct marketing, the moment money is solicited the communication may fall under the opt-out regime. For political parties, requesting donations is treated as direct marketing; the same applies to charities that ask for donations. However, the donation-solicitation rule only applies when the recipient’s annual turnover is less than R2 million.
In practice, an NPO that only sends educational or awareness messages is not a direct marketer, but if it follows up with a request for a donation it must register and comply with the same rules as commercial marketers.
Non-compliance can trigger a complaint to the NCC, leading to investigations, compliance notices, referrals to the National Consumer Tribunal and possible penalties. In serious cases, the CPA allows criminal prosecution with fines or up to 12 months imprisonment.
For small and medium-size enterprises, the guidelines mean an extra administrative step: registering as a direct marketer, paying prescribed fees and maintaining a clean contact database. Failure to do so could result in costly penalties or damage to reputation, especially for businesses that rely on call-centre outreach.
The draft guidelines are available on the NCC website, and the public has 15 days to submit written comments before the commission finalises the regulations and launches the registry.
For more background on how the opt-out system fits into South Africa’s consumer-protection framework, see our Regulatory & Policy coverage.
