Consumer support

In a hurry?

If you have reached this page, the chances are that you want to do one of the things listed below. If you are in a hurry, click the link that seems the most appropriate, starting at the top of the list:

1. Report SMS scams and spam
2. Report unwanted billing
3. Lodge a complaint
4. Contact WASPA
5. Do Not Contact – Stop SMS spam

If you have a little more time, we suggest you read about WASPA’s role and what sort of queries we can help with below, and then follow the most appropriate menu link to talk to us.

WASPA’s role

WASPA is a membership-based industry body, full-filling a self-regulatory role over its members. WASPA plays an important role in handling consumer complaints lodged against members, and ensuring that WASPA members adhere to the stringent requirements of the WASPA Code of Conduct. If you have a complaint or query involving one of WASPA’s members then you are welcome to lodge it with WASPA.

What WASPA can help with

We can help you if you want to report SMS spam being sent by a WASPA member. We probably can’t help you if someone else is sending the spam, but you can still report it.

If you have discovered WASP services on your mobile phone bill, and you think you have been billed without permission, you can report unwanted billing to WASPA, and we’ll try to help you. We will start by requesting that the identified service provider stops billing you for the service.

If you think that one of WASPA’s members has acted in breach of the WASPA Code of Conduct then, you should lodge a complaint. The complaints process is more rigorous than the process used for SMS spam and billing queries, so you should expect it to take longer to get resolved. Often, complaints are handled by an independent ICT lawyer who assesses the merits of complaint.

We can also try to assist you with general queries about the WASP industry, but we get a very high volume of general contact queries, and we cannot always respond quickly to all of them. (Please don’t submit questions about complaints using the general contact form.)

What WASPA can’t help with

If your complaint is targeted against someone who isn’t a member of WASPA, unfortunately we can’t help you. WASPA only has jurisdiction over its members. This happens most frequently with complaints about spam. You are still welcome to report SMS spam to WASPA even if no WASPA members are involved. We plan to use submitted examples of spam to monitor the type of spam South African consumers are being sent.

We can’t help you with general queries about your mobile phone bill. If there is a problem with your bill, and it doesn’t involve any WASP services, then you should probably be talking to your service provider, rather than to WASPA.

We can’t help you with email spam, sorry!

We can’t help you with complaints against the mobile telephone networks themselves. 8ta, Cell C, MTN and Vodacom are regulated by ICASA and not by WASPA.

We can’t help you with legal questions about the WASP industry. If you need legal advice on starting a WASP business, or any sort of general legal advice, you should probably be talking to an attorney, rather than WASPA.

Telephonic queries

WASPA operates a consumer queries line (011 476 7710) with operational hours between 09:00 and 16:00 on business days. Please note that at certain times of the month, usually for a few days after mobile service bills are sent out, this line experiences very high load. If you are struggling to reach a representative on the queries line, please consider using one of the forms linked to from this page instead.