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Displaying the 30 latest comments.
Submitted | first-name | support | concern | top-concern | message |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2026-10-23 10:36:04 +02:00 | Veon | Yes I do | Failure to Target Rogue & Offshore Spammers | ||
2026-10-22 21:18:09 +02:00 | Lawrence | Not fully | Failure to Target Rogue & Offshore Spammers | Set hours that those exempted to day time and working days. After hours and weekends sould be free of the invasive calls. | |
2026-10-22 13:53:54 +02:00 | Hendrieka | Not fully | Political Party Loophole | I support establishing a binding national opt-out registry to halt nuisance marketing calls from local and international sources, but request the removal of political party exemptions, complete fee exemptions for registered NPOs and community charities, and the protection of voluntary, direct consumer opt-ins.) | |
2026-10-22 07:09:31 +02:00 | Jennifer | Not fully | Other | I tried using the app but they wanted my ID no.for what? all the info i need to input is my cell no snd email address, why do they want my ID no? I do not feel comfortable putting that info onto a portal that can be hacked or that the info can be accessed | |
2026-10-22 05:21:57 +02:00 | Louise | Yes I do | All of the above | Political Party Loophole | |
2026-10-21 10:10:00 +02:00 | Cornel | Yes I do | Failure to Target Rogue & Offshore Spammers | This bill could add value but will need policing and consequence management to really have an impact. | |
2026-10-21 09:39:14 +02:00 | Bee | No I do not | Excessive Costs & Monthly Red-Tape for SMMEs | It's a another biased Law only in favour of the government and their political cohorts. Political parties should also be held to account for their intrusion into the private Domain. Charities / NGOs should be exempt from all charges, and the fee levied per entry should be reduced by 50%. Just another corrupt money making racket that will ultimately financially benefit corrupt politicians. | |
2026-10-21 09:01:33 +02:00 | Suzette | Not fully | Political Party Loophole | Supports establishing a binding national opt-out registry to halt nuisance marketing calls, but demands the removal of political party exemptions, complete fee exemptions for registered NPOs and community charities, lighter compliance burdens for SMMEs, and the protection of Supports establishing a binding national opt-out registry to halt nuisance marketing calls, but demands the removal of political party exemptions, complete fee exemptions for registered NPOs and community charities, lighter compliance burdens for SMMEs, and the protection of voluntary, direct consumer opt-ins.) | |
2026-10-21 06:42:35 +02:00 | Olusola | Yes I do | All of the above | Failure to Target Rogue & Offshore Spammers | |
2026-10-21 06:04:34 +02:00 | Helena | Yes I do | Other | We need an strict enforcable law that protect consumers against these calls that has,no regard to your private phone, work hours, disturbances, continues daily calls. We are fed up with phone calls that you did not agree to use your number, you are not interested in what they are selling and yet they KEEP ON despite asking them to remove you from their call list | |
2026-10-21 03:56:46 +02:00 | Mongezi | Yes I do | All of the above | Penalising Non-Profits & Charities | |
2026-10-21 01:54:50 +02:00 | liza | Not fully | Political Party Loophole | politicle parties and foreigners spam the most. however if they want this registry data must be safe and should find a workable solution. on many ocassions your details are shared by a company | |
2026-10-20 21:33:21 +02:00 | David | Not fully | Other | Core Motivating Concern: Flawed Enforcement & Blanket Exemptions Detailed Comments & Motivating Reasons: I submit this public comment to express my conditional support for the National Consumer Commission’s (NCC) proposed binding National Opt-Out Registry. While I strongly support establishing a central, government-administered platform to empower South Africans against relentless nuisance calls and SMSes, I demand three key regulatory adjustments to ensure fairness, proportionality, and constitutional integrity: Eliminate Political Party Exemptions: Political canvassing, unsolicited campaign SMSes, and robocalls cause the exact same privacy disruption as commercial marketing. Exemption of political parties from registry compliance creates an unfair loophole. To protect citizens' right to privacy equally under Section 14 of the Constitution and POPIA, all political parties must be bound by the national opt-out database. Lighter Compliance & Scaled Fee Structure for SMMEs: Imposing heavy annual registration fees and complex administrative burdens on small, micro, and medium enterprises (SMMEs) stifles business growth and local job creation. The regulations must incorporate tiered, low-cost compliance tiers or simplified registry access for SMMEs so that small local businesses are not priced out or overburdened by corporate-level compliance overhead. Protection of Voluntary, Direct Consumer Opt-Ins: When a consumer explicitly and voluntarily opts into receiving communications, special offers, or updates from a specific brand or business, that direct agreement must take legal precedence over a blanket registry block. Explicit, consent-based opt-ins must be protected, allowing consumers to maintain relationships with businesses they trust without unnecessary statutory interference or forced administrative hurdles. | |
2026-10-20 19:28:20 +02:00 | Phumlani | Yes I do | Undermining Express Consent | ||
2026-10-20 18:16:02 +02:00 | Pieter | Not fully | Political Party Loophole | ||
2026-10-20 15:27:17 +02:00 | Gerhard | Not fully | All of the above | Political Party Loophole | I support the establishment of a National Opt-Out Registry and stronger consumer protections against unwanted marketing. However, the regulations should be amended to remove exemptions that allow certain organisations to continue unsolicited communications, reduce unnecessary compliance burdens on small businesses and charities, and protect legitimate consumer opt-ins. The goal should be effective consumer protection without creating excessive costs or administrative complexity. |
2026-10-20 15:18:41 +02:00 | Sonja | No I do not | All of the above | Undermining Express Consent | |
2026-10-20 15:18:10 +02:00 | Peter | No I do not | Undermining Express Consent | ||
2026-10-20 15:17:46 +02:00 | Nikola | No I do not | All of the above | Undermining Express Consent | |
2026-10-20 15:17:18 +02:00 | Norma | No I do not | All of the above | Undermining Express Consent | |
2026-10-20 11:10:14 +02:00 | Rene | Not fully | Political Party Loophole | Government and legislation is for all people living in South Africa. It should not provide special protections for political parties. | |
2026-10-20 10:04:22 +02:00 | Michele | Not fully | All of the above | Political Party Loophole | |
2026-10-20 09:38:10 +02:00 | Nicholas | Yes I do | Undermining Express Consent | I support the proposed National Opt-Out Registry because it will strengthen consumer privacy, protect South Africans from relentless unsolicited marketing calls and spam messages, and give consumers greater control over their personal information. The daily bombardment of telemarketing calls raises legitimate concerns about how cellphone numbers are obtained, shared, or sold without consent. Consumers deserve peace of mind, privacy, and the right to choose who contacts them. The registry should ensure meaningful accountability for companies that disregard consumers’ wishes and help restore trust in responsible marketing practices. | |
2026-10-20 09:05:45 +02:00 | Mighael Hans | Yes I do | Political Party Loophole | ||
2026-10-20 08:12:30 +02:00 | T. | Not fully | Penalising Non-Profits & Charities | ||
2026-10-20 06:24:12 +02:00 | Alf | Not fully | Political Party Loophole | ||
2026-10-20 05:38:06 +02:00 | Ðeidré | Yes I do | Failure to Target Rogue & Offshore Spammers | ||
2026-10-20 01:33:13 +02:00 | Rebekka | No I do not | All of the above | Undermining Express Consent | I would have liked to support some of the draft guidelines as published but I think this shoddy effort needs more fine tuning and a longer comment period deadline. The NCC must immediately publish an extension notice granting a minimum 30- to 60-day public comment window to allow comprehensive stakeholder input. The following concerns need to be ironed out before we can consider implementing these guidelines: Political organisations campaigning for votes absolutely DO constitute a variety “direct marketing” as far as the public are concerned, because their purpose to solicit political support incurs financial buy in from people for the service of their political views. It is a kind of service. Why on earth would the SA government allow the harassment of citizens from political telemarketers, but prevent me from getting updates from my local SPCA? This document is yet another that smacks of political tyranny from the GNU. Community charities, animal shelters, disability groups, and religious outreach missions will be treated identically to aggressive commercial telemarketers. If an NPO sends an email appeal or calls past donors to request funds, it must first register with the NCC and pay monthly scrubbing fees, diverting scarce donor funding toward bureaucratic compliance. Genuine Public Benefit Organisations (PBOs) and registered NPOs must be granted a statutory exemption from registry fees and cleansing requirements when communicating with existing donors and supporters. While 12 cents per record seems nominal for major banks, political parties that get funding from the likes of George Soros or Bill Gates, telecommunications giants with political connections to state funds, and insurance conglomerates, it creates a recurring financial barrier for small, micro, and medium enterprises (SMMEs) and sole proprietors. A local business communicating monthly with a modest subscriber base faces ongoing administrative red tape and compounding expenses merely to send routine marketing updates. Introduce a tiered compliance threshold exempting micro-enterprises and sole proprietors (e.g., turnover under R2 million) from monthly cleansing fees, and extend the list validity period from 30 days to 90 or 180 days. The guidelines must recognise documented, verifiable, post-block express consent (opt-in) between an individual consumer and a specific vendor without requiring the consumer to navigate an administrative state portal. It is very concerning that the practicality of these guidelines have not been considered logically and this particular Section 12.3 which states that “fresh consent does not override a pre-emptive block, unless the consumer has removed such pre-emptive block” directly on the state registry, is kin to government overreach. Compliant, legitimate local businesses will carry the financial and administrative costs of regulation, while the most predatory telemarketers—unregistered lead generators, VoIP number-spoofers, offshore crypto boiler rooms, and illegal call operations—will ignore the registry entirely. The NCC and ICASA must pair the registry with strict carrier-level telecommunications filtering, rigorous enforcement against illegal VoIP routing, and aggressive prosecution of domestic lead-generation syndicates. Once again, a defective set of guidelines from government, penned by people who seem to hate the South African people. We cannot abide such incompetent safeguarding of our citizenry. I cannot wait to vote out the role-players of this mess. May God thwart every single attempt by the wicked members of parliament and other arms of government to subjugate and impede and limit the freedoms of the legitimate citizens of South Africa. |
2026-10-19 19:53:15 +02:00 | Riana | Not fully | Failure to Target Rogue & Offshore Spammers | ||
2026-10-19 19:44:10 +02:00 | Peter | Not fully | Political Party Loophole | P0litical parties cannot BE EXEMPT |
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- Statutory Opt-Out Registry
Replaces the voluntary, toothless industry list with a centralised, state-administered statutory registry with real enforcement powers. - Enforcement & Penalties
Enforces accountability by backing registry blocks with National Consumer Tribunal administrative fines and criminal penalties of up to 12 months imprisonment. - 12-Cent Cleansing Fee
Shifts the operational cost of privacy protection onto commercial direct marketers who profit from consumer databases, sparing taxpayers. - Political Campaigning
Political participation and democratic canvassing are constitutionally protected activities distinct from commercial sales pitches. - NPO / Charity Inclusion
Financial solicitations are invasive regardless of who initiates them; consumers deserve protection from aggressive donation requests. - Fresh Consent Restrictions
Prevents unscrupulous corporate marketers from tricking consumers into signing away their opt-out block via buried contract clauses.
- Statutory Opt-Out Registry
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- Statutory Opt-Out Registry
South Africa already enacted an opt-in model under POPIA Section 69; introducing a parallel CPA opt-out mechanism creates legal ambiguity and administrative conflict. - Enforcement & Penalties
Threatening small business owners with criminal records and prison sentences over administrative marketing list errors is disproportionate and heavy-handed. - 12-Cent Cleansing Fee
Imposes an ongoing, compounding monthly financial drain on small businesses and non-profits that lack the budgets of massive corporations. - Political Campaigning
Carves out a self-serving loophole for politicians to inundate citizens’ phones during election cycles while everyday citizens cannot opt out. - NPO / Charity Inclusion
Starves community non-profits by treating charitable funding appeals identically to predatory corporate telemarketing schemes. - Fresh Consent Restrictions
Paternalistically invalidates a citizen’s explicit decision to subscribe to updates from a specific brand or local business.
- Statutory Opt-Out Registry