As reported by Acts Online on October 7, 2026, South Africa's National Consumer Commission (NCC) has launched a national opt-out registry, establishing a statutory opt-out mechanism for electronic direct marketing channels including phone calls, SMS, and emails under the "Consumer Protection Act" and its 2026 amended regulations.
The regime imposes three mandatory legal obligations on marketing enterprises: all direct marketing companies must complete registration and renew it annually; prior to launching marketing activities, they must scrub their customer lists against the registry on a monthly basis; consumers' opt-out requests submitted via the registry take highest priority, superseding any prior user consent obtained under existing contracts, and enterprises may no longer send marketing messages to such users.
The platform will be rolled out in three phases. The first phase runs from September to December 2026, during which direct marketing enterprises are required to complete registration, and late registration will be deemed illegal. The second phase runs from December 2026 to April 2027, during which registered enterprises will integrate with the system for free and complete the process upgrade for list scrubbing. The third phase will start in May 2027, when ordinary consumers will be able to enter their contact details to proactively block all types of direct marketing messages.
For enterprises engaged in marketing activities such as outbound calls and SMS bulk messaging, they must complete registration by December 2026 and finish the process upgrade for monthly list scrubbing by April 2027. Ordinary consumers will have to wait until May 2027 to register on the system; once registered, enterprises may no longer contact them even if they previously agreed to receive marketing communications.
