As consumers complain that they can't find Netflix South Africa's promised rand-priced gift card for the festive season, it now says many shops will only have it from 2019.

As frustrated South African consumers say that they can't find the promised localised gift cards that Netflix South Africa said it would have in stores for the end-of-year festive period, the streaming service now says many shops will only have it in 2019.

In October Netflix announced that it's rolling out Netflix South Africa gift cards priced in rand for local South African consumers, making it possible for users to access the global video streamer's service without the use of a credit card.

The Netflix Gift Card for South Africa can be loaded with any amount between R150 to R1000 at local retailers, similar to the gift cards for MultiChoice's streaming service Showmax, iTunes and Google Play that are available in shops.

Netflix initially said that the Netflix Gift Card for South Africa would be available from Pick n Pay, HiFi Corporation, Checkers, Dis-Chem, eGifts24, Incredible Connection, Game, Dion Wired, RARU, Builders Warehouse, Game4U, AWX, Kloppers, and BT Games - but the problem is that consumers can't seem to find it.

An online search for a Netflix gift card on the websites of Pick n Pay, HiFi Corporation, Incredible Connection, Game, Dion Wired, Builders Warehouse, Kloppers and BT Games turned up nothing.

Netflix South Africa's PR company Eclipse PR was contacted about consumers' struggle to actually find and buy the Netflix SA gift cards in the country.

Eclipse PR said "the Netflix gift cards have started rolling out gradually in market since November 2018" and again listed the names of the retailers where the Netflix gift cards are supposedly on sale.

The company said Netflix SA gift cards are now available at Pick n Pay, BT Games, Builders Warehouse, eGifts24, RARU and Prepaid Gamer.

"Rolling out over the next week: Dis-Chem, Game4U, AWX, Kloppers. January 2019: Checkers, HiFi Corporation, Incredible Connection, Game, Dion Wired, Makro".

Specific questions asking how many Netflix SA gift cards have been placed in the market so far, if it's not available why not and when would it be, and whether Netflix is aware about complaints of these cards not being available and being a struggle for South African consumers to find, were not answered.

Netflix South Africa rolls out the rand-priced retail Netflix Gift Card giving users an access option without having to use a bank card.

Netflix South Africa is rolling out a Netflix Gift Card for South Africa and priced in rand, with consumers who will now be able to give Netflix access as a present, or to get access to the global streaming service without having to have or use a credit card.

The Netflix Gift Card for South Africa currently being rolled out, can be loaded with any amount between R150 to R1000 at local retailers as Netflix in the country is targeting video entertainment content users who don't have, or don't want to link, a credit card to use the service.

The new Netflix Gift Card for South Africa is available from CNA, Pick n Pay, Checkers, Dis-Chem, HiFi Corp, Incredible Connection, Game, Dion Wired, Makro, Builders Warehouse, Game4U, AWX, Kloppers, and BT Games.

Netflix that is aggressively ramping up it's local market presence and marketing efforts as it competes with Naspers' Showmax run by MultiChoice's Connected Video unit, Amazon Prime Video as well as some smaller subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) players, is through the Netflix Gift Card giving consumers a long-term, secure payment method without the need of a bank card.

Netflix South Africa users can top up their balance with a new Netflix Gift Card when their balance depletes and will get a notification when the gift card balance is low.

A Netflix Gift Card loaded with R200 will give the user 2 months of Netflix streaming on the basic plan (1 device in SD); R139 will provide 1 month of Netflix streaming on the standard plan (2 devices in HD), and a gift card loaded with R169 will give the user 1 month Netflix streaming on the premium plan (4 devices in HD or Ultra HD).

Existing South African Netflix users can use the Netflix Gift Card to top up their Netflix account credit, while those who do not yet have an account can redeem their access credit by visiting Netflix.com/redeem and entering the pin code printed on the back of the card.

People eligible for a free trial will get a free month of service in addition to the amount credited to the Gift Card with the balance of the Netflix Gift Card that will only be used to pay for the selected plan after the free month trial expires.