| Item | Top level assessment |
| Can you run prize draws in South Africa? (i.e. chance based promotion) | Yes |
| Can you run competitions in South Africa? (i.e. skill based promotion) | Yes |
| Is local registration required? | No |
| Is regionalisation/translation required? | No |
| Are there restrictions on prizes? | No |
| Can you run purchase necessary prize promotions in South Africa? | Legislation is not clear, safest to include a no purchase necessary route |
| Compliance feasibility and cost | Feasible, low cost |
Running a Prize Draw or Competition in South Africa (Laws, Rules and Regulations)
South Africa is an attractive proposition for a prize promotion, requiring no registration, fairly straightforward requirements, and in the majority of cases: no need for regionalisation, so you can keep your terms in English. There is however a blind spot around purchase necessary, which in most cases means a no purchase necessary (NPN) route should be used.
South African Prize Draws, Sweepstakes and Giveaways (Chance Based Promotion)
Free to enter prize draws are allowed in South Africa, but to be permitted they must be purely “promotional” in nature (a “promotional competition”).
There should not be payment required to enter, save for a low cost of entry (such as an SMS), up to a value of ZAR 1.50.
South African Competitions and Contests (Skill Based Promotion)
Skill based promotions are allowed in South Africa and are outside the scope of the CPA and Lotteries Act.
If chance or a random draw is in any way involved in a skill based promotion, it will likely be within the scope of the CPA and/or Lotteries Act and a campaign will need to adhere to its requirements.
Purchase Necessary Promotions in South Africa
Between the CPA and the Lotteries Act, there is an unclear position regarding purchase necessary prize draws and opinions differ on this matter. Although the position of the CPA is that prizes under ZAR 1.0 are not covered by its rules (which could theoretically provide a safe route to purchase necessary), this is not remotely practical for promoters, and in almost all cases the safest option is assume that any kind of payment to enter (aside from up to ZAR 1.50 cost of entry) is not allowed, and to provide a no purchase necessary (NPN) route.
South African Prize Restrictions
Prizes must be legal in nature and recipients must be able to legally accept.
The APC has a very broad definition of “prize” (much broader than many countries; that do not count “discounts” as prizes, for example) – “a reward, gift, free good or service, price reduction or concession, enhancement of quantity or quality of goods or services, or other discounted or free thing”.
Data Protection in South Africa
The Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) governs data protection in South Africa.
Data collected/processed in the course promotion should be done so in compliance with the conditions for lawfully processing personal information under POPIA.
Entrants must have opted-in to receive marketing communications, and must be given the opportunity to withdraw consent at any time (e.g. unsubscribe or otherwise opt-out). Marketing communications must be relevant to the organisation(s), brand(s) or product(s) involved in the promotion.
Other South African Compliance Requirements
Terms and conditions should be clear and unambiguous. There is no requirement in legislation or code that terms and conditions must be provided in a particular language. South Africa has eleven official languages but there is generally a good understanding of English, and many promotions default to this. If a promotion targeted a particular region, community or group where English was not widely spoken, the most appropriate official language should be used.
Our view on South Africa for Prize Promotions
South Africa can be considered as a worthwhile and fairly straightforward inclusion into an international prize campaign, with no registration or (in the vast majority of cases) regionalisation requirement. The one exception is purchase necessary prize draws which are unclear within the scope of the CPA and lottery legislation – some promoters take a chance and run purchase necessary promotions, others opt for the safety of a no purchase necessary (NPN) route. We would support the NPN route in almost all cases.
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Disclaimer: The information on this page and other individual or summary compliance pages are not substitutes for formal compliance advice and Contest PR do not make any warranty regarding accuracy or completeness. They are highly simplified general guides and may not be up to date at the time of reading. Please get in touch for up to date advice and compliance assistance on this territory.