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Competition promotion rules in South Africa are governed by section 36 of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, and they apply to almost every "like and win" or giveaway a business runs — including low-value social media prizes. As part of your broader website compliance in South Africa obligations, getting this wrong carries penalties that can reach 10% of your annual turnover or R1 million, whichever is greater.
The regulation catches more businesses than most realise. The prize threshold that triggers full CPA section 36 obligations is just R1.00 — meaning a modest voucher giveaway on Instagram carries the same documentation and oversight requirements as a high-value prize draw. Most SA retailers and online brands run at least two or three competitions a year without ever drafting the promotional competition rules document the Act requires.
Quick Answer
Competition promotion rules in South Africa must comply with section 36 of the Consumer Protection Act and its Regulations. Any competition offering a prize above R1.00 requires written rules that state how to enter, how winners are determined, the closing date, and how prizes are claimed. An independent accountant, registered auditor, attorney or advocate must oversee the draw. Competition records must be retained for at least three years. Failing to comply is a criminal offence under the CPA.
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Get a free compliance reviewWhat Are Competition Promotion Rules Under South African Law?
Competition promotion rules are the written document that a promoter is legally required to create, retain and make available before running any promotional competition in South Africa. Under section 36 of the Consumer Protection Act, a "promotional competition" is broadly defined as any competition, game, scheme or arrangement for distributing prizes by lot or chance, conducted in the ordinary course of business to promote a producer, distributor, supplier or the sale of goods and services — where any prize offered exceeds R1.00.
That definition sweeps in:
- Social media giveaways (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok)
- In-store lucky draws
- Email subscriber competitions
- Purchase-triggered prize draws
- Skill-based competitions with prizes (the CPA does not distinguish between skill and chance — both are regulated under s36)
Who Must Comply with CPA Section 36?
Any person or business that conducts a promotional competition in the ordinary course of trade is a "promoter" under the Act and bears full compliance responsibility. The social media competition rules that apply to an Instagram giveaway are the same rules that apply to a printed entry form — the medium does not reduce the obligation. This includes sole traders, online stores, retail chains, franchise operators, and marketing agencies running competitions on behalf of clients. Importantly, if your agency runs the competition for a client, both parties can be exposed if the rules are missing or defective — the promoter relationship does not automatically shift liability to the client.
Key Point
The CPA does not carve out exemptions for small businesses, once-off competitions, or competitions with modest prize values. A sole trader running a gift card giveaway on Facebook has the same documentation obligations as a national retailer running a high-value holiday prize draw.
What Your Competition Promotion Rules Document Must Include
The rules document is the single most important piece of competition compliance, and the Act is specific about what it must contain. Every promotional offer must clearly state the following before the competition opens to entrants.
| Required element | What to include | Common gap |
|---|---|---|
| Competition description | The name, nature and scope of the competition | Vague captions like "enter our competition" with no formal rules link |
| Entry process | Exact steps required to participate | Changing entry mechanics mid-run without updating rules |
| Winner determination | The basis on which results will be decided (random draw, skill score, etc.) | Leaving "winner selected by our team" with no method stated |
| Closing date | Precise date and time the competition closes | Stating only a month without a specific date or time |
| Announcement medium | How and where winners will be notified (post, email, SMS, social media) | Omitting this, then notifying via DM only with no public record |
| Prize detail | Clear description of the prize, including any limitations or substitutions | "Prize to be confirmed" or vague "hamper" descriptions |
| Prize collection | The person, place, date and time from which the prize can be collected or received | No collection instruction — winner told to "DM us" |
| Where to obtain rules | URL or address where the full rules can be found | Rules posted in a comment or deleted after the competition ends |
Beyond these mandatory disclosures, the rules must also name the independent professional overseeing the competition (more on that below) and specify that employees of the promoter are ineligible. The rules must be made available free of charge to the National Consumer Commission (NCC) and to any participant who requests them.
The Three Mandatory Operational Requirements
Section 36 and Regulation 11 impose three operational requirements beyond written rules: no payment to enter (electronic submissions capped at R1.50), certified independent oversight of the draw by a qualified professional, and an explicit eligibility ban on employees, directors, agents and consultants of the promoter.
1. No payment to enter (with one narrow exception)
A promoter may not require participants to pay consideration in order to enter. The only exception is the reasonable cost of posting or transmitting an entry form or device — and electronic submissions are capped at a maximum of R1.50. This means:
- Charging an entry fee is prohibited
- Requiring a purchase to enter is also prohibited (though a purchase may be an incidental trigger for an automatic entry, the structure must be carefully designed)
- Requiring entrants to pay for the SMS or data to submit an entry above R1.50 is prohibited
2. Independent oversight is not optional
The Act requires that an independent accountant, registered auditor, attorney or advocate oversee and certify how the competition was conducted. This person must compile a report retained for at least three years after the competition ends.
"Independent" means no employment, consultancy or financial relationship with the promoter — a director's own attorney is not independent for this purpose.
Key Point
Independent oversight applies regardless of competition size. A gift card giveaway with a low prize value requires the same certified independent professional as a vehicle prize draw. The cost of engaging an independent professional for a small competition is far lower than the potential administrative fine for skipping it.
3. Who cannot win
The following people are categorically ineligible to receive prizes in any promotional competition run by a promoter:
- Employees of the promoter
- Directors, members and partners of the promoter
- Agents and consultants of the promoter
This restriction must be stated in the competition rules and enforced in practice. A prize awarded to a promoter's employee, even if that employee entered in good faith, constitutes a breach of the Act.
POPIA and Data Collected from Competition Entrants
Every competition collects personal information — names, email addresses, phone numbers, social media handles or ID numbers for prize verification. That data is subject to POPIA, and POPIA-compliant data collection requires a clear lawful basis for processing. For competition entrants, the typical basis is consent — which means entrants must know what their data will be used for before they enter.
The practical requirements for competitions:
- Include a privacy notice (or link to your privacy policy) in the competition rules
- State explicitly what personal data is collected and why
- State whether entry data will be used for marketing beyond the competition, and if so, obtain separate explicit consent
- Do not retain competition entry data beyond what is necessary — the CPA's 3-year record retention rule covers competition records, but entrant data not needed for prize verification should not be held indefinitely
- If you plan to send competition entrants email marketing, a competition entry does not by itself constitute consent for direct marketing under POPIA section 69 — unless you obtain that consent explicitly at point of entry
Running competitions in South Africa via social media adds a platform-policy layer on top of the CPA. Meta's advertising policies, for example, prohibit requiring users to share a post or tag friends as an entry condition — yet this format is used constantly. Reviewing your Meta Ads compliance obligations alongside your consumer protection competition rules requirements before launch is more efficient than fixing both problems after the competition closes.
Running competitions on Meta? Your ad compliance matters too.
Share your current competition campaign structure and we'll show you where your CPA obligations and platform policies intersect.
Check my campaign complianceWhat Happens If You Get the Competition Rules Wrong?
Non-compliance with CPA section 36 exposes a promoter to an administrative fine of up to the greater of 10% of annual turnover or R1 million, criminal prosecution carrying a fine or up to 12 months' imprisonment, and voidance of the entire competition — stripping results of legal effect. The enforcement framework operates on two tracks.
On the civil track, the National Consumer Commission can issue a compliance notice. If the promoter ignores it, the NCC may apply to the National Consumer Tribunal for an administrative fine of up to the greater of 10% of the promoter's annual turnover in the preceding financial year or R1 million.
For businesses with meaningful annual revenue, the 10% turnover measure lifts the maximum fine well above R1 million. A competition that failed to appoint an independent auditor or forgot to include the closing date in its rules can generate a fine that dwarfs the competition's entire marketing budget.
On the criminal track, the CPA provides for criminal prosecution of promoters conducting competitions in contravention of the Act, with penalties of a fine or imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both. The 10-year maximum in the Act applies only to breach of confidence by people who administer the Act.
Beyond penalties, a competition conducted in contravention of the CPA can be declared void — meaning the results are nullified, winners have no enforceable claim to prizes, and the promoter may face consumer complaints and reputational fallout in addition to the regulatory consequence. Properly structured competition rules South Africa operators can rely on avoid all three outcomes.
The enforcement process
The NCC investigates complaints from consumers or may act on its own initiative. After investigation, it may issue a compliance notice. If the promoter does not comply, the matter goes to the National Consumer Tribunal (for administrative fines) or the National Prosecuting Authority (for criminal charges). The NCC has jurisdiction over all promotional competitions run in South Africa regardless of where the promoter is headquartered.
Why South African Businesses Choose Growth Pulse Media for Compliance-Aware Marketing
Growth Pulse Media was built by someone who ran campaigns, managed compliance obligations, and signed off on marketing budgets in a South African ecommerce business — not an agency theorist. That operating background means competition mechanics, CPA obligations and digital marketing strategy are treated as a single system rather than separate problems handed to different advisers.
For retailers and brands running competitions as part of their paid or organic digital strategy, our web design and marketing services are structured to account for compliance requirements from the brief stage — competition landing pages built with compliant rules display, entry forms designed to capture consent correctly, and campaign structures that align with both platform policies and the CPA.
Work is executed in-house; the strategist who knows your competition structure is the same person managing the execution. We operate with a limited client load so that level of attention is genuine, not a pitch.
For businesses that need their website trust signals and compliance posture reviewed alongside their competition strategy, that combined view is where we add the most value.
Who This Is NOT For
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Request a competition reviewFrequently Asked Questions
Does a small social media giveaway need formal competition promotion rules?
Yes. The CPA section 36 prize threshold is R1.00 — any promotional competition where the prize exceeds R1.00 requires formal written rules. A voucher giveaway on Instagram is a promotional competition under the Act. The rules must be available on request and retained for at least three years.
Can employees enter a competition their employer runs?
No. CPA section 36 explicitly prohibits employees, directors, members, partners, agents and consultants of the promoter from winning. The restriction must be stated in the competition rules and enforced in practice — an employee who wins inadvertently still constitutes a breach.
What does "independent oversight" mean in practice for a small business?
The CPA requires that an independent accountant, registered auditor, attorney or advocate oversees and certifies how the competition is conducted. "Independent" means no employment or financial relationship with the business running the competition. For a small business, this is typically a brief engagement with an auditor or attorney who witnesses the draw and signs a certification that must be retained for at least three years. This requirement applies regardless of competition size — a low-value prize draw requires the same independent certification as a high-value one.
Can you require competition winners to appear in marketing material?
Only if you give them a clear and explicit opportunity to decline. CPA Regulation 11(3) renders void any competition rule clause that requires a winner to permit use of their image, participate in marketing activity or attend a prize announcement without being informed of their right to refuse. You can invite winners to appear in marketing — you cannot make it a condition of receiving the prize.
What records must a promoter keep after a competition ends?
For at least three years after the competition closes, a promoter must retain the competition rules, promoter details, the independent professional's details and report, all prize and winner information, an acknowledgment of receipt signed by the winner (including their ID number and receipt date), and records of every instance the competition was marketed — including the date, medium and location of each marketing touchpoint.
What is the penalty for running a competition without compliant rules?
Non-compliance with CPA section 36 is a criminal offence. On the administrative track, the National Consumer Tribunal can impose a fine of up to the greater of 10% of the promoter's annual turnover or R1 million. On the criminal track, a promoter can face a fine, imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both. The competition can also be declared void, stripping results of legal effect.
Competition Mechanics + CPA-Compliant Execution — In One Brief
Growth Pulse Media builds and manages competitions that are structured for compliance from the start — clear rules pages, consent-driven entry forms, and campaign structures aligned with both the CPA and your platform's policies. All work is executed in-house by senior operators who have run SA marketing campaigns at scale. No obligation — we'll get back to you within 24 hours.
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