Is Cold Calling Prohibited Under POPIA?

Before the introduction of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2008 ("POPIA"), direct marketing was already regulated under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 and the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 ("CPA"). POPIA serves as one of the measures to protect consumers from direct marketing. The provisions as contained in POPIA make it clear that unsolicited electronic communication as a form of direct marketing is prohibited unless certain provisions of POPIA are complied with. Once POPIA becomes enforceable, consumers will likely receive fewer spam voice messages and fewer spam SMSes as consent needs to be obtained from the consumer before such marketing can be undertaken. There would seem to be some confusion on the application of POPIA on cold calling as a popular means of direct marketing.