South Africa

Clickatell is a proud member of the Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association. WASPA serves as a self-regulatory body with a mandate to represent and regulate its voluntary members, mobile-based Value-Added Services (VAS) providers, commonly known as WASPs. For more information, you can view the WASPA code of conduct.

South African SMS messaging supports binary and Unicode, and there are various standard regulations in place regarding message content, shown in the table below. You can also visit the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa online for more information and guidance regarding these restrictions.

Before you start sending SMS messages to South Africa, please take note of the complex and important messaging and content restrictions outlined by these regulatory bodies.

We make it simple for you to set up a South Africa messaging program. Our Online Sales team has a solid understanding of the country’s messaging landscape, which means they can easily guide you through setting up your account.

Restriction	Description
DND exists	Yes
Time restrictions	Yes Direct marketing messages may not be sent between 8 PM – 8 AM GMT+2
International vs. local split	Yes - for Cell C, MTN, Rain, and Vodacom numbers.
Local traffic	See below for international brand considerations.
International traffic	Cell C, MTN, Rain, and Vodacom require traffic sent on behalf of identified international brands (see table below) to be sent over a special international bind/number with increased pricing. Otherwise, traffic can be blocked, and penalties may be enforced. Our team can assist with setting up a local and international profile to accommodate both scenarios. Rain has an extensive list of brands that are considered international.
General content restrictions	Content that is offensive, misleading, immoral, violent, degrading, induces fear, incites the use of harmful substances, or promotes racism, is not allowed. Adult content is not allowed. It is best practice to obtain end-user consent before sending any communication from your service. Unsolicited messages will not be sent to end-users. Opt-in proof should be obtained.
Content registration required	No
Opt-out instructions required	Yes End-users must be able to withdraw or cancel their consent at any time. You must be able to receive messages to process the “STOP” keyword required for users to opt out of your messaging.
Sender ID regulations	All sender IDs will be overwritten with a local number.
Sender ID registration offered by Clickatell	Not supported.
Sender ID documentation required	N/A
Country supports MNP	Yes

Brands identified by Cell C, MTN, and Vodacom as international traffic only:

Brands identified by Rain as international traffic can be found here.

Brands	Vodacom	Cell C	MTN
123-sms	Yes	Yes	Yes
Adobe	Yes	Yes	Yes
Air France	Yes	Yes	Yes
Airbnb	Yes	Yes	Yes
Alibaba	Yes	Yes	Yes
AliExpress	Yes	Yes	Yes
Alipay	Yes	Yes	Yes
Amazon	Yes	Yes	Yes
American Express/Amex	Yes	No	No
Apple	Yes	Yes	Yes
Aruba	Yes	Yes	Yes
Asana	Yes	No	No
AstroPay	Yes	No	No
Atlas Earth	Yes	No	Yes
Atlas Reality	No	Yes	Yes
Atlassian	Yes	Yes	Yes
Audible	Yes	No	No
Autodesk	Yes	Yes	Yes
Badoo	Yes	Yes	Yes
BambooHR	Yes	Yes	Yes
Barclays	Yes	No	No
Bark	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bet365	Yes	Yes	Yes
BetFred	No	Yes	Yes
Betway International	No	No	Yes
Binance	Yes	Yes	Yes
BiP	Yes	No	No
Bitly	Yes	No	No
Bloomberg	Yes	No	No
Bolt	Yes	Yes	Yes
Booking	No	Yes	Yes
Booking.com	Yes	Yes	Yes
British Airways	Yes	Yes	Yes
Buffalo	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bumble	Yes	Yes	Yes
Calendly	Yes	Yes	Yes
CamScanner	Yes	No	No
Canva	Yes	No	No
CapCut	Yes	No	No
Careem	Yes	No	No
Cathay Pacific	Yes	No	No
ChatGPT	Yes	No	No
Cisco	Yes	Yes	Yes
Citigroup	Yes	No	No
Citibank	Yes	Yes	Yes
Clearscore	Yes	Yes	Yes
CloudOTP	Yes	Yes	Yes
Clubhouse	Yes	No	No
Coinbase	Yes	No	No
Coupa	Yes	Yes	Yes
CrushMe	Yes	No	No
DBS	Yes	No	No
DEEZER	Yes	No	No
Deutsche Bank	Yes	No	No
Dingtone	Yes	No	No
Discord	Yes	Yes	Yes
Disney Plus	Yes	Yes	Yes
Docusign	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dropbox	Yes	Yes	Yes
eBay	Yes	Yes	Yes
Emirates Airline	Yes	Yes	Yes
EnvoyerSMS	Yes	Yes	Yes
Epic Games	Yes	Yes	Yes
Etihad Airways	Yes	Yes	Yes
Etsy	No	Yes	Yes
Exness	Yes	Yes	Yes
Facebook	Yes	Yes	Yes
FedEx	Yes	No	No
Fiverr	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fresha	Yes	Yes	Yes
Funkie	Yes	No	No
Globicall	Yes	Yes	Yes
Glovo	Yes	No	No
GoChat Messenger	Yes	No	No
GoDaddy	Yes	Yes	Yes
Google	Yes	Yes	Yes
GoogleAds	No	Yes	Yes
Grab	Yes	No	No
Hello Yo	Yes	No	No
Herbalife	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hike	Yes	No	No
Hilton Worldwide	Yes	No	No
Hinge	Yes	Yes	Yes
Honor	Yes	No	No
HSBC	Yes	No	No
Huawei	Yes	Yes	Yes
Hubspot	Yes	Yes	Yes
IBM	Yes	Yes	Yes
IHG Hotels & Resorts	Yes	No	No
IMO	Yes	Yes	Yes
Inclave	Yes	Yes	Yes
Indeed	Yes	Yes	Yes
InDrive	Yes	Yes	Yes
Instagram	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intuit	Yes	Yes	Yes
JibeRCS	Yes	Yes	Yes
JP Morgan	Yes	Yes	Yes
KakaoTalk	Yes	No	No
Kormo	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kucoin	Yes	No	No
Lark	Yes	No	No
Lastpass	Yes	Yes	Yes
LINE	Yes	No	No
LinkedIn	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lufthansa	Yes	Yes	Yes
Luno	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lyft	Yes	No	No
Mailchimp	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mastercard	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mauritius Air	Yes	Yes	Yes
Meta Platforms	Yes	No	No
MiChat	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mimecast	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mix Telematics	Yes	Yes	Yes
Monday.com	Yes	No	No
Morning Star	Yes	Yes	Yes
Netflix	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ninety	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nintendo	Yes	Yes	Yes
OA Pay	Yes	No	No
OKX	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ola Party	Yes	No	No
OnlyFans	Yes	Yes	Yes
Outlier	No	Yes	Yes
Padhanisa	Yes	No	No
Paramount+	Yes	No	No
Pavago	Yes	Yes	Yes
Payoneer	Yes	Yes	Yes
PayPal	Yes	Yes	Yes
Perplexity	Yes	No	No
Ping Identity	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pinterest	Yes	No	NO
PlayStation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Plentyoffish	Yes	Yes	Yes
Qantas	Yes	No	No
Qatar Airlines	Yes	Yes	Yes
Realme	Yes	No	No
Reddit	Yes	Yes	Yes
Regus	Yes	Yes	Yes
Remity	Yes	No	No
Roblox	Yes	No	No
Sage	Yes	Yes	Yes
SailPoint	Yes	Yes	Yes
Salesforce	Yes	No	No
Samsung	Yes	Yes	Yes
SAP	Yes	No	No
Saudi Airlines	Yes	Yes	Yes
SendGrid	Yes	Yes	Yes
SHAREit	Yes	No	No
Shazam	Yes	No	No
Shein	Yes	Yes	Yes
Shopify	Yes	Yes	Yes
Signal	Yes	Yes	Yes
Singapore Airlines	Yes	No	No
Skrill	Yes	Yes	Yes
Slack	Yes	No	No
Snapchat	Yes	Yes	Yes
Snappic	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sony	Yes	Yes	Yes
Spotify	Yes	Yes	Yes
Starbucks	Yes	No	No
Steam	Yes	No	No
Strava	Yes	No	No
Stripe	Yes	Yes	Yes
TalkU	Yes	No	No
Tango	Yes	No	No
Taobao	Yes	No	No
Techbit	Yes	Yes	Yes
Telegram	Yes	Yes	Yes
TelUS	Yes	Yes	Yes
Temu	Yes	Yes	Yes
TikTok	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tinder	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tmall	Yes	No	No
TransferWise	Yes	No	No
Transfy	Yes	No	No
TravelInfo	Yes	Yes	Yes
Truecaller	Yes	Yes	Yes
Truesenses	Yes	Yes	Yes
TuneCore	Yes	Yes	Yes
Turkish Airways	Yes	Yes	Yes
Twilio	Yes	Yes	Yes
Twitch	Yes	Yes	Yes
X (formerly Twitter)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Uber	Yes	Yes	Yes
Uber Eats	Yes	No	No
Unity	Yes	No	No
Upwork	Yes	No	No
Verify	Yes	Yes	Yes
Viber	Yes	Yes	Yes
Visa	Yes	Yes	Yes
Walmart	Yes	Yes	Yes
Waze	Yes	Yes	Yes
WeChat	Yes	Yes	Yes
WeCom	Yes	No	No
WhatsApp	Yes	Yes	Yes
Williams Racing	Yes	Yes	No
Wix	Yes	Yes	Yes
WordPress	Yes	No	No
World Remit	Yes	Yes	Yes
Yahoo	Yes	Yes	Yes
Yandex	Yes	No	No
YouTube	Yes	Yes	Yes
YoYo	Yes	No	No
Zoom	Yes	No	No