How to cancel a fibre contract in South Africa
**Any South African on a fixed-term fibre contract may cancel it at any time by giving their ISP 20 business days' written notice. The provider may charge a reasonable cancellation penalty, but that penalty may not include the profit it expected over the remaining months.**
South Africans tied into fixed-term fibre or LTE agreements can end them at any point by giving their internet service provider 20 business days' notice in writing, under section 14 of the Consumer Protection Act. Providers are entitled to charge a cancellation penalty in return, but the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud has ruled that the penalty may not include the revenue the provider expected to collect over the months still to run.
That single limit is where most disputes are won. A consumer who cancels nine months into a 24-month deal is not liable for the remaining fifteen months of subscription fees, however the contract is worded.
The notice itself
Notice must be in writing or another recorded form. An email to the provider's support address qualifies, and so does its own online cancellation form. A telephone call to a call centre does not, unless the provider issues a reference number confirming it. The 20 days are business days, so a notice sent on a Friday before a long weekend runs to roughly a calendar month.
What the penalty may cover
The ombud's Advisory Note 12 sets out what a supplier may recover: goods handed over in anticipation that the contract would run its term, such as a router; services already delivered, such as installation; and discounts granted in exchange for committing to the term, which may be clawed back. Future losses and lost profit are explicitly excluded.
In deciding whether a penalty is reasonable, the ombud weighs the amount already owed, the value of the transaction up to cancellation, the value of equipment still with the consumer or returned, the original contract length, the length of notice given, and how diligently the provider looked for a replacement customer. The penalty must not be out of proportion to the actual harm suffered.
The fibre wrinkle
A fibre service usually involves two relationships: the ISP that bills you, and the network operator that owns the line. Cancelling with the ISP does not necessarily release any separate obligation on the line itself. Check which entity your agreement names before assuming one letter ends both.
Who this does not protect
Section 14 covers natural persons and small juristic persons only. A business account above the threshold set by the Minister falls outside it, and those contracts are governed by their own terms.
If the provider refuses
Complaints go first to the provider's internal escalation, then to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud, and, for telecommunications specifically, to ICASA. The National Consumer Commission takes complaints where a supplier has ignored the Act outright.
Common questions
How much notice must I give to cancel a fibre contract?
Twenty business days, in writing or another recorded form.
Can my ISP bill me for the rest of the contract?
No. A cancellation penalty may not include the profit the provider expected to earn over the unexpired months.
What can the penalty actually cover?
Equipment supplied, services already delivered such as installation, and discounts granted in exchange for the term commitment.
