Competition law and policies in South Africa : a consumer welfare perspective

Abstract

Competition law and policy is increasingly becoming an important part of public economic policy. Post 1994, South African competition policy has been viewed as one of the critical policies to be used to correct the faults of the old system. The multiplicity of goals and objectives found in the competition act do not only reflect the input of various stakeholders, but also the importance of the competition policy in the development of the South African economy. Prior to 1994, the protectionist policies resulted in the local firms not being competitive when dealing with their global counterparts. Strong state ownership, protectionism and import substitution differed with what was found in developing countries in that South Africa had strong property rights as well as developed market institutions. The aim of this study was to get an understanding of how competition policies and laws affect consumers. To achieve this aim, the study assessed how the competition commission prioritises and handles consumer related cases. The study further assesses the interaction between competition authorities, consumer protection agencies, and consumer bodies. The approach herein is that of a case management study of the impact of competition laws and policies on addressing the goal of consumer welfare. The study focuses on competition authorities, in particular, the competition commission and the complementary role played by consumer protection agencies and consumer bodies. As a result key informant interviews were conducted with representatives of the competition commission, the DTI office of the consumer protection and the National consumer forum . The study found among other things that there is a weak relationship between the competition authorities and the DTI office of the consumer protection.