South Africa’s regulator for the .za namespace, the .ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA), whose mandate is to administer and manage the .za namespace, has issued a notice terminating the registry operating agreement (ROA) with the ZA Central Registry (ZACR).
In a statement, the authority says it enters into several agreements with services providers and adheres to the terms and conditions as set out in those agreements.
When the agreements are about to expire, the ZADNA always embarks on a fair, transparent and competitive process that is open to all interested parties to acquire the necessary services.
“This is no different with the agreement with ZACR. ZADNA is following due process, ensuring that good governance principles are adhered to,” says ZADNA.
It explains ZADNA and ZACR entered into the agreement in April 2012, and the end of its term is on 1 April 2022.
“ZADNA expressed its intention to terminate the agreement through a letter that was served to ZACR on 19 July 2021. It is stipulated in the ROA that ZADNA must inform ZACR of its intention to terminate the agreement six months prior to the expiry date; if not, the agreement is extended by default for another five years,” says the organisation.
It explains that the next step in this process is to issue a request for information that will be open for an appropriate period.
Once the information has been received from the interested parties and assessed, it adds, the authority will then issue a request for proposals for eligible registry operators to submit their proposals to offer registry services.
“To clarify the position of ZADNA and to allay fear, ZADNA has no intention of taking over the technical operations of the .za namespace,” it adds.
ZADNA further says it is embarking on a process of establishing a licensing regime for the .za namespace, which will enable ZADNA to license registries and registrars in accordance with the Electronic Communications Act 25 of 2002.
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