COMPETITION COMMISSION
Business Consulting in Pretoria

It was also recognized, however, that the South African economy and society was in a state of transition, in terms of a broader restructuring of the economy, the effects of globalization and trade liberalization and the need to redress past inequality and non-participation in the national economy. A review of the Act in the 1970s found that it had been unsuccessful in preventing a dramatic increase in oligopolies. The 1979 Act was amended in 1986 to give the Competition Board further powers, including the ability to act not only against new concentrations of economic power but also existing monopolies and oligopolies. Despite the amendments, however, it was widely recognized that technical flaws in the Act prevented the effective application of competition law on both substantive and logistical grounds. To promote the efficiency, adaptability and development of the economy\. To provide consumers with competitive prices and product choices\. To expand opportunities for South African participation in world markets and recognize the role of foreign competition in the Republic\. To promote a greater spread of ownership, in particular to increase the ownership stakes of historically disadvantaged persons. The Commission’s enforcement function relates to contraventions of abuse of dominance, vertical restrictive practices and horizontal restrictive practices, including cartels. In order to provide a dedicated focus to cartel conduct- which is the most egregious of all competition law contraventions- the Commission established a Cartels division in As such, the enforcement work of the Commission is undertaken by the Cartels and Enforcement and Exemptions divisions, respectively. The Commission investigates contraventions to the Act on the basis of complaints received from the public or through its own initiation on the basis of its experience or on outcomes of its market studies. Once a complaint has been received and recorded by its Registry department, it is screened by the Screening Unit within the Enforcement and Exemptions division for an assessment of its merit, in order to determine whether a full investigation should occur. The screening process is a crucial step in the process, as it is a prima facie test of the case- thus enabling the Commission to determine whether to allocate further resources through a detailed investigation or to curtail the investigation. The Commission may require a complainant to provide further information in order to establish whether the matter should be further investigated. Alternatively, the case can be allocated to the relevant enforcement division (E&E or Cartels) for further investigation. The statutory time-frames for investigating enforcement cases based on complaints from the public is 12 months. There is no statutory time-frame provided for the completion of investigations initiated by the Commission. Once an investigation is completed, the relevant division will forward it the Commission’s litigators in the Legal Services Division. The Policy & Research division can also partake in case investigation and litigation where complex economic analysis is required. The Legal Services division is responsible for preparing the case file and representing the Commission before the Tribunal or other relevant courts.