South Africa SMS Guidelines - Best Practices and Compliance - sms-compliance -

Frequently Asked Questions

To send SMS messages in South Africa, you must adhere to WASPA's Code of Conduct and POPIA regulations. This includes obtaining explicit opt-in consent, respecting messaging time windows (weekdays 8 AM - 8 PM, Saturdays 9 AM - 1 PM, no messages on Sundays or public holidays), and providing clear opt-out mechanisms. You'll also need to understand technical specifications like number portability and message format handling.
MNP in South Africa allows users to keep their mobile numbers when switching carriers. This requires SMS systems to validate numbers against current operator databases, handle network-specific routing, and process delivery receipts across different carriers to ensure seamless delivery.
South Africa has SMS regulations primarily to protect consumers from unsolicited messages and ensure ethical marketing practices. The regulations, governed by WASPA and POPIA, mandate explicit consent, time restrictions, and data protection measures to build trust and transparency.
Marketing SMS messages in South Africa can only be sent on weekdays between 8 AM and 8 PM, and on Saturdays between 9 AM and 1 PM. No marketing messages are allowed on Sundays or public holidays unless you have explicit consent from the recipient.
You can only send SMS messages outside the designated time windows (weekdays 8 AM - 8 PM, Saturdays 9 AM - 1 PM) if you have explicit consent from the recipient. Documenting this consent is crucial for compliance with WASPA regulations.
WASPA (Wireless Application Service Providers' Association) sets the Code of Conduct for SMS messaging in South Africa. This code outlines technical and operational requirements, including message timing restrictions, consent management, and opt-out handling, to ensure responsible messaging practices.
POPIA compliance for SMS marketing involves obtaining explicit opt-in consent, providing clear opt-out mechanisms, adhering to WASPA's time window restrictions, maintaining comprehensive consent records, and implementing secure data storage and management practices.
Standard SMS messages in South Africa are limited to 160 GSM-7 characters. Unicode messages, which support special characters and emojis, are limited to 70 characters. Concatenated messages can be longer but are split into segments of 153 GSM-7 or 67 Unicode characters.
While direct MMS isn't universally supported, you can send rich media via SMS by hosting the content online and sending a short URL in the SMS. Recipients can then click the link to view the content in their mobile browser.
A consent management system for SMS in South Africa is a system for capturing, storing, and managing user consent for receiving messages. It must capture explicit opt-in records, maintain audit trails, process opt-out requests within 24 hours, and support multilingual HELP/STOP commands.
Handling number portability in South Africa requires validating numbers against current operator databases, adapting to network-specific routing protocols, and processing delivery receipts across different carriers to ensure seamless message delivery despite users switching networks.
Best practices include using clear, concise language, including sender identification and opt-out information, testing messages across different devices, and monitoring delivery rates and engagement metrics to continuously improve campaigns.
Ensure reliable SMS delivery by implementing robust number validation, setting up delivery receipt handling, configuring character encoding detection, and establishing fallback mechanisms for failed deliveries, such as retrying or using alternative communication channels.
Key requirements include registering with WASPA (if applicable), implementing a robust consent management system, setting up message testing frameworks, establishing monitoring and reporting systems, and adhering to WASPA's Code of Conduct and POPIA regulations.
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