New regulations may bring a little more peace to the average South African consumer, with amendments to the Consumer Protection Act now aimed at curbing unwanted spam calls. 

The amendments, gazetted by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition last week, include the establishment of an “Opt Out Registry”, which will allow consumers to block unwanted marketing calls. from a specific company or from an entire industry. 

The National Consumer Commission (NCC), which welcomed the changes, said the move would give consumers stronger protection against intrusive direct marketing. 

“For too long, consumers have been exposed to intrusive and unwanted direct marketing communication. The Regulations provide for a robust mechanism to stem unwanted calls to ensure that consumers are protected,” said the NCC’s Acting Commissioner, Hardin Ratshisusu. 

In terms of the new rules, all direct marketers in South Africa will be required to register, and they will also need to update their marketing lists before contacting consumers, removing the details of anyone who has opted out through the registry. 

The NCC will act as the administrator of the new registry system. 

“The Regulations also stipulate the registration, renewal and cleansing (deduping) fees, among other requirements,” read the NCC’s statement.  

Registration for both direct marketers and consumers is expected to begin in July 2026. The NCC said it would communicate the registration process and requirements ahead of time. 

Meanwhile, companies that fail to comply with the regulations could face steep penalties, such as an administrative fine of up to R1 million or 10% of annual turnover, whichever amount is greater. 

Gift of the Givers teams have been activated to respond to numerous informal settlements across the Cape Metropole and Drakenstein areas, after being inundated with calls for assistance following heavy rainfall this past weekend.

A Yellow Level 2 warning for disruptive rain was in place on Sunday, resulting in widespread flooding of homes.

Gift of the Givers teams started engaging with community leaders and local councillors on Sunday afternoon to assess the extent of the impact and coordinate an effective response.

Activation of relief efforts commenced overnight and this morning.

Videos and images show various homes underwater, including in Du Noon, Brown’s farm, and the Mkhonto Square informal settlement in Nyanga.

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Disaster Risk Management officials are also conducting further assessments in various informal settlements today, after responding to localised flooding over the weekend.

READ: City teams responding to localised flooding in numerous areas

The Disaster Operations Centre received reports of several structures affected in some areas, although the full extent of the damage will only be confirmed once assessments are complete.

Roads and Stormwater teams have been out in full force clearing roads and storm water drains.

Heavy rain and strong winds lashed Cape Town on Sunday, 19 April, as the second of two cold fronts made landfall this weekend. The South African weather service earlier issued a Yellow Level 2 warning for disruptive rain on Sunday.

The first of the cold fronts made landfall on Friday, which also saw good rains into Saturday.

Disaster Risk Management officials have been conducting assessments in the Mkhonto Square informal settlement in Nyanga and in Brown’s Farm, where reports indicate that some structures have been affected by the heavy downpours.

The full extent of the damage will only be confirmed once assessments are complete. Homes in several other informal settlements are also likely to have sustained damage.

There has been localised flooding on roads across many parts of the metro. These reports have been routed through the Transport Management Centre for attention by Roads and Stormwater teams where necessary.

Several roads in Parkwood were waterlogged, while the weather also dampened festivities at the Navy Festival. In Simon’s Town, water could not clear quickly enough due to the heavy rain, resulting in traffic being diverted via Soldier’s Way back onto Main Road.

Traffic was also affected in the direction of Simon’s Town near Main Road and the Glencairn Expressway.

On Constantia Main Road, a fallen tree obstructed the roadway earlier in the day. More reports are expected overnight and into Monday morning.

Stellenbosch has also seen huge amounts of rain.

Stellenbosch localised flooding on roads, 19 April

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Adverse weather conditions are expected to persist into the early hours of Monday. The Disaster Operations Centre will continue to collate information and dispatch the relevant services as needed.

The public is urged to exercise caution and report emergencies to the Public Emergency Communications Centre on 021 480 7700.

Gangs in the Western Cape are becoming more complex, fragmented and increasingly difficult to police, with internal gang splits fuelling ongoing violence.  

That is the view in the latest Western Cape Gang Monitor report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime.

The report said gang members are defecting to rival groups, with leadership battles and the formation of splinter groups. 

Researchers describe fragmentation as “a structural process that is reshaping the way gangs in the Western Cape organise and compete”. 

This trend is believed to be contributing to the (often deadly) violence in several hotspot areas. 

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Internal battles within groups, like the Junky Funky Kids (JFK), have been especially severe, with the report noting that around 70 killings in recent months were linked to JFK infighting. 

“Internal instability within Western Cape gangs, and the associated risk of fragmentation, undermines leadership structures, fuels violence and erodes community safety. When combined with long-standing inter-gang rivalries, these tensions generate highly unpredictable and often deadly conflict dynamics.” 

The study also highlights how children are being drawn into gang culture through stone-throwing clashes in Cape Flats communities. It warns that these incidents “should not automatically be dismissed as inconsequential altercations between children. In certain contexts, the activity operates as an early sign of conflict within broader gang dynamics”. 

Researchers further noted that while military deployments can temporarily stabilise violent areas, they may have very little impact, noting that previous deployments “failed to provide meaningful or lasting reductions in violence”. 

“While a visible military presence may temporarily suppress gang violence, it does not typically disrupt the underlying criminal economy.” 

Further to this, the report mentioned that one gang source told researchers that “the army can’t really stop the business”. 

Expansion

The report also spoke to the expansion of Cape Town-based gang territories to the West Coast. With the “growing global cocaine industry”, the report suggests that South Africa is becoming a bigger player in the logistics thereof.  

Areas like Vredenburg and Saldanha Bay have, as such, proven to be good targets for gangs, due to their “geography, infrastructure and comparatively low security profile”, the report read.  

“As well as major ports such as Cape Town and Durban, traffickers are increasingly exploiting South Africa’s secondary ports, including Saldanha Bay. These less busy locations offer a combination of weaker surveillance, limited policing capacity and easy access to inland distribution routes.” 

What to do

In response to the growing violence, the report argues that lasting progress will depend on intelligence-led policing, stronger investigations and prosecutions, better community protection and long-term social interventions.  

READ MORE: Western Cape Gang Monitor, March 2026