ZADNA to close legislative gaps in .za namespace

Issued by ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA)
Johannesburg, 03 Jun 2022

Molehe Wesi, CEO of the .ZA Domain Name Authority.

The .ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA) is aiming to close legislative gaps on the registration of .za registries and address domain name abuse with the release of its draft .ZA Registry and Registrar Licensing Regulations and Procedures. The draft regulations are open for public comment until 6 June 2022.

ZADNA has been managing the domain namespace through a set of policies for both commercial and non-commercial second-level domains (SLDs) through the accreditation of registries and registrars without their licensing per the prescripts of the ECT Act.

ZADNA CEO Molehe Wesi says: “As a regulator of the .za namespace, we don’t have regulations and procedures in place. Therefore, the released draft regulations themselves are vital as they will enable ZADNA to close a legislative gap to license .za registries and registrars and empower the Authority to create a vibrant space.”

Wesi explains that the draft regulations highlight the process to be followed by applicants for licensing, information that the Authority requires as part of licensing application, and explain how licences will be revoked. The draft also stipulates the duration of the licence – registries will be 10 years and registrars will be five years, and it expresses the Authority’s intention to monitor compliance of the licence holders and carry out investigations where there have been complaints lodged against the licence holders.

za top-level domain, which is an Internet country-code top-level (ccTLD) for South Africa. .za has various second-level domains (SLDs) such as co.za, org.za, web.za and gov.za, among others.

He notes: “In licensing registrars, we fulfil our mandate, this certifies that the registrar has the requisite technical skills and business requirements to operate and manage domains on behalf of registrants. One of the challenges we are addressing through these regulations is domain name abuse. In this day and age, this is key, considering the amount of cyber crime committed through the usage of domains. As of April, we had 16 new cases that were being addressed, 10 in March, 21 in February, and this excludes carried-over cases.”

The regulations will apply to all SLDs under the .za domain namespace. Wesi says: “Our SLD operators are split into two categories – commercial and non-commercial. The former only has one commercial registry operator, and the latter being: three private administrators for each of the following second-level domains; grondar.za, agric.za and nis.za; seven administrators managing the following restricted and moderated second level-domains; ac.za, edu.za, gov.za, ngo.za, nom.za, school.za and tm.za; and one administrator managing the following restricted and unmoderated second level-domain, alt.za.”

The .ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA) is a not-for-profit company established in terms of section 59 of the Electronic Communications and Transaction Act, 2002 (Act 25 of 2002). ZADNA’s mandate is to regulate the .za namespace and ensure its efficient use, management, and administration. ZADNA is accountable to its members and the South African Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT).

“Currently, the .za namespace consists of 1 338 601 commercial domain names, which fall under co.za, net.za, web.za and org.za. And we have 685 registrars (RARs) consisting of local and international service providers. All registries and registrars will be compelled to comply with the regulations for a licence to be issued once the regulations are promulgated, which will be the next step after receiving and reviewing the public comments.”