Over 12,000 .org.za domain names are set for deletion on 1 September as their registrants have failed to transfer them to a ZACR-Accredited Registrar.
The ZA Central Registry suspended 15,420 .org.za domain names on 1 September 2016 yet to date the 2,394 registrants have heeded ZACR’s many requests to prevent their eventual deletion by migrating to ZACR-Accredited Registrars leaving around 12,677 domains set for deletion.
“It is good news that many org.za domain name holders have transferred their domains to ZACR-Accredited Registrars since September 2016. However, we are concerned that many more still have not made the transition,” said ZACR CEO, Lucky Masilela.
The ZACR has previously communicated its intent to suspend non-compliant org.za domains from 1 September 2016 and to finally delete them on 1 September 2017.
Any org.za names that have not been transferred to ZACR-Accredited Registrars by 1 September 2017 will be deleted and made available for re-registration on a first-come, first-served basis. Registrants will therefore lose important org.za domains associated with their brand names as well as expose themselves to possible cost implications later on through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process.
A complete list of domain names that remain on the org.za default registrar is available at org.za default registrar and will be updated periodically.
To be eligible for a .org.za domain name, registrants must be a South African citizen or resident or an organisation that is constituted in South Africa as a company, statutory body, partnership, charity, NGO, trade union, political party, religious institution, club or other type of association or a foreign organisation that is licensed to trade or operate in South Africa or an owner of, or an applicant for, a South African registered trademark. Registrants must use the registered name only for nonâcommercial purposes.