The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has demanded that the mandatory expiry of unused prepaid data and airtime bundles be scrapped once and for all.
The Red Berets, led by Julius Malema, made the call on Wednesday.
According to the EFF, the practice exploited consumers, and it was unconstitutional for mobile operators to restrict services to users.
“For years, South Africans have been subjected to restrictive and anti-consumer expiration mandates as it relates to prepaid data and airtime, which regulate, restrict and undermine their access to information,” said the EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo.
In March, Malema and his party met an MTN South Africa executive team led by CEO Charles Molapisi to discuss problems in the telecommunications sector.
“During these engagements, MTN alluded to that data and airtime expiry mandates were industry practices which fall in the realm of regulation by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).
“As a result, during a meeting of the portfolio committee on communications and digital technologies on 18 March 2025, the EFF raised as a concern that the expiration of data and airtime in an environment where these essential resources are already expensive deepens the digital divide and has a negative effect on consumers’ access to information,” he said.
He pointed out that ICASA had said it was already reviewing the policy and would soon invite public comment on the issue.
Thambo said that the EFF had yet to receive information on how the scrapping would be legislated.
“Data costs in South Africa are one of the highest, with countries like Malawi having significantly cheaper rates, highlighting the failure of ICASA to regulate these costs. While data in South Africa is expensive, it is still crucial in a digital era, and where access to information must be characterised as a basic human right,” he said.
He said the continuation of these “exploitative measures” restricted the users’ access to job opportunities and pursuit of education. He added that the practice also hampered the fight against crime as well as service delivery.
He said expiration of “data and airtime within five days or even hours” of their purchase was “not only a violation of consumer rights and a manipulation of pricing but also an undermining of the ability of South Africans to live a life of dignity”.
“The EFF will therefore pursue in Parliament the immediate scrapping of expiration mandates for data and airtime and subsequently a complete review of data and airtime pricing plans to ensure that people are at the centre of all telecommunications pricing decisions,” said Thambo.
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