Consumer Protection Act: Pre-emptive Block Regulations Amended

Posted 16 April 2026 Written by Acts Online
Category Consumer Law

Brought to you by SA Legal Academy: In terms of the Consumer Protection Act, No. 68 of 2008, the Department of Trade, Industry & Competition has gazetted amendments to the regulations regarding pre-emptive blocks for direct marketing.

The amendments introduce additional provisions under Regulation 4, which governs the mechanisms used by consumers to block direct marketing communications. These changes, which follow a draft released for public comment in November 2024, are effective immediately. The update inserts sub-regulations 4(7) through 4(10), clarifying the legal obligations of direct marketers and registry administrators regarding the national opt-out registry.

The newly inserted provisions specifically address:

  • The mandatory registration and use of the opt-out registry by direct marketers;
  • The technical requirements for maintaining the blocking mechanism; and
  • The frequency and methods for scrubbing marketing lists against the registry.

Practitioners should note a technical discrepancy in the Gazette: the amendments insert sub-regulations 4(7) to 4(10) purportedly following sub-regulation 4(6). However, the original Consumer Protection Act Regulations, 2011, do not contain a sub-regulation 4(6), and no prior amendments creating such a sub-regulation have been identified.

What this means for you, your business, or your clients

  • For yourself: You must exercise caution when citing Regulation 4 in legal pleadings or compliance reports to account for the numbering discrepancy between the 2011 regulations and these 2024 amendments.
  • For your business: Your firm must immediately update its internal direct marketing compliance protocols to ensure that contact lists are scrubbed against the opt-out registry in accordance with the newly effective sub-regulations.
  • For your clients: You should advise clients who conduct bulk marketing campaigns that the registry obligations are now in force, and failure to respect the pre-emptive blocks could result in enforcement action under the Act.

Originally published at https://legalacademy.co.za/news/read/consumer-protection-act-pre-emptive-block-regulations-amended

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