MESSAGING IN SOUTH AFRICA
🇿🇦 WhatsApp messaging rules in South Africa.
The rules that matter when you send WhatsApp marketing, sales and service messages to people in South Africa, in plain English, checked 28 September 2026.
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Illustrative example. Names and details are made up.
The laws.
- Protection of Personal Information Act 2013 (POPIA), section 69
- Consumer Protection Act
THE RULES
What they mean for WhatsApp.
| Rule | What it means for WhatsApp |
|---|---|
| Consent | Direct marketing by electronic communication needs consent, or the recipient must be an existing customer. |
| Existing customers | You got their details in a sale, you’re marketing your own similar products, and they could object when you collected the details and in every message. |
| Asking once | You may ask a person for consent only once, if they haven’t previously refused, using the prescribed form. |
| Identify and opt out | Every message must identify you and give a way to opt out. |
RISK
Enforcement.
The Information Regulator can impose administrative fines of up to R10 million.
META
Plus Meta’s rules, everywhere.
- Opt-in: people must agree to receive WhatsApp messages from your business, and the opt-in must name your business.
- Templates: messages you start outside a customer’s 24-hour window must use approved templates.
- Opt-outs: respect requests to stop, made on WhatsApp or anywhere else.
- A human: give people a way to reach a person.
- No sensitive data requests: never ask for full card numbers, bank account numbers or ID numbers in the chat.
IN THE PRODUCT
How ConvoHut helps.
HOW CONVOHUT HELPS
- A compliance review for each market before an automation or campaign goes live, covering consent, an unsubscribe option in the template and your sender details.
- Every contact has a consent status, visible in the inbox next to the conversation.
- Opt-outs stop journeys for that contact and exclude them from future marketing messages.
- Quiet hours by market, so messages aren’t sent in the middle of the night.
- A confirmation step before any campaign is sent, with the Meta cost shown first.
ConvoHut’s checks help you follow the rules. They don’t replace your own legal obligations, and you’re responsible for the consent you collect and the messages you send.
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