December 02, 2008

SA to tighten anti competition laws

Sapa reported that a draft amendment to tighten loopholes in the current competition legislation would soon be forwarded to South African Cabinet.

The report cited Mr Mandisi Mpahlwa trade & industry minister of South Africa as saying that the measure is meant, amongst other things, to crack down on anti competitive practices by giving competition authorities more teeth.

Mr Mpahlwa said “This requires that the state of competition be constantly monitored, particularly in sectors such as telecommunication, banking and carbon steel. Strengthening competition policies is therefore imperative to addressing such behavior in the markets.”

Mr Mpahlwa said that despite the improving level of competitiveness and the robustness of the competition authorities, there remain high levels of concentration in specific sectors and anti competitive practices continue to characterize the structure of key markets. He said “We have to make sure that there are no tensions within the system by looking at how we can improve the functioning of the system.”

High profile cases in South Africa involving anticompetitive practices include the recent conviction of Mittal Steel SA, which had been charged by the Competition Tribunal for excessive pricing to the detriment of consumers.