South Africans will soon have a way to stop those endless spam calls

South Africans fed up with endless spam calls, SMSes and marketing emails are set to get a new way to fight back.

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has launched the National Opt-Out Registry, a free, government-administered system designed to help consumers block unwanted direct marketing.

The move comes as the volume of spam hitting South Africans continues to climb, with billions of unwanted calls and messages recorded this year.

However, consumers will have to wait before they can use the registry to pre-emptively block direct marketers. Here’s why.

Billions of spam calls and SMSes

The scale of South Africa’s spam problem is significant. According to Truecaller’s 2026 South Africa Spam Report, South Africans received 17.47 billion spam calls between January and June 2026.

That was a 25.2% increase compared with the same period in 2025. Spam SMSes increased even more sharply, rising by 58.9% to 3.71 billion during the first six months of the year.

The new registry is intended to give consumers greater control over who can contact them with direct marketing.

How will the Opt-Out Registry work?

The system is being introduced under Section 11 of the Consumer Protection Act, which gives consumers the right to block unwanted direct marketing communication.

The new regulations empower the NCC to administer the National Opt-Out Registry.

So, rather than consumers having to repeatedly tell individual companies not to contact them, the registry will allow them to pre-emptively block direct marketers once the system is fully operational.

Direct marketers will also have new obligations. They will have to register on the system and cleanse their marketing lists every month before conducting direct marketing campaigns.

This is intended to ensure that consumers who have opted out are removed from marketing lists and don’t continue receiving unwanted communication.

When can consumers register?

The registry is being introduced in phases to give both consumers and businesses time to prepare.

The first phase, focused on registration by direct marketers, opened on 15 September 2026 and runs until December.

Businesses that fail to register during this period could face a contravention of Section 11 of the Consumer Protection Act, read with the 2026 amendment regulations.

The second phase focuses on cleansing marketing databases.

From December 2026 to April 2027, direct marketers will have five months to cleanse their lists and familiarise themselves with the system. The NCC says this phase will be provided at no cost to direct marketers.

The system is being launched now, but consumers won’t immediately be able to use it to block marketers.

From May 2027, consumers who have registered on the National Opt-Out Registry will be able to pre-emptively block direct marketers from sending unwanted direct marketing.

This means South Africans looking for relief from spam calls and messages will need to register once the consumer phase of the system opens.

The NCC says it will run an ongoing consumer education campaign and publish further guidance on how the system will work.

NCC Acting Commissioner Hardin Ratshisusu said the registry was an important step for consumers who have been flooded with unwanted marketing.

The commission says the system is intended to promote more responsible direct marketing while protecting consumers from unwanted calls, texts, emails and other electronic communication.