South Africa’s ZA Central Registry (ZACR) says there is nothing untoward about the country’s official .za namespace regulator, the .ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA), having issued notice to terminate the registry operating agreement (ROA) in place between the two organisations.

This week, ITWeb reported that ZADNA had issued notice and said that when agreements are about to expire, “it always embarks on a fair, transparent and competitive process that is open to all interested parties to acquire the necessary services.”

The organisation released a statement which read: “This is no different with the agreement with ZACR. ZADNA is following due process, ensuring that good governance principles are adhered to.”

Several days later ZACR released a statement which explained that the ROA was entered into in April 2012, with an expiry date of 1 April 2022 stipulated, with a six-month notice period required.

ZACR said: “ZADNA has, in fact, provided more than the stipulated notice period, i.e., at least nine months. There is nothing untoward about ZADNA serving a ‘notice to terminate’ on 19 July 2021, especially since this ROA was always meant to be an interim measure leading up to the establishment of a licensing regime in terms of Chapter X of the Electronic Communications and Transaction Act of 2002.”

The ZA Central Registry added that it was previously the administrator of the co.za second-level domain and in 2012, through the ROA, it assumed the role of the country’s Central Registry responsible for a number of .ZA second level domain names including co.za, web.za, net.za and org.za.

“We are aware that ZADNA is now working on a fair, transparent, and competitive process that will culminate in the issuing of a Request for Information (RFI) related to Registry Operator Services, followed by the issue of a Request for Proposals (RFP). This will see ZACR and other potential applicants submitting their proposals to provide registry services for the current.ZA-managed second level domain names and any new extensions in the future,” the organisation stated.

According to ZACR, under its watch, the co.za name space, in particular, grow from some 400 names to 1.3 million and resulted in numerous accolades for ZACR including becoming the largest Registry Operator in Africa.

“It is also held in high regard across the continent amongst its peers and within the wider Internet community as a benchmark for robust and reliable domain name management. With this rich history of success, ZACR believes that this will hold it in good stead when it comes to remaining an integral part of the local domain name ecosystem,” the organisations statement continues.

ITWeb added in its report further clarification from ZADNA. “To clarify the position of ZADNA and to allay fear, ZADNA has no intention of taking over the technical operations of the .za namespace.”

The organisation said 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.”