Direct marketing legislation update

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) of South Africa has been invited by the South African Law Commission to advise on various aspects of the current draft of the Protection of Personal Information Bill. The draft will then be considered by the SA Law Commission's privacy bill drafting committee during July 2007 and the final draft will then be available for comment before it is handed to the Parliament portfolio committee at the end of 2007 or early 2008. “Our work with the SA Law Commission has been conducted in a spirit of co-operation and goodwill and we are optimistic that the result will be a bill that will protect the privacy of individuals and juristic persons, and allow direct marketing to continue without any drastic limitations,” says Brian Mdluli, CEO of the DMA.