South Africa

By Sha’ista Goga1   I. Introduction Enforcement agencies have amended laws and guidelines in recent years to deal with mergers that do not affect competition individually, but do on a...

By Helen Kean Redpath & Phil Alves1   I. Introduction The new draft merger guidelines (“DMGs”) are proposing major changes to merger policy in the United States and bringing underlying...

South Africa’s telehealth guidelines, which were in place up until July 2022, were temporarily relaxed during the pandemic to allow health care workers to use telehealth more extensively. The most...

This article briefly reviews the role of economists appearing before the Competition Tribunal and how the Tribunal hears economic evidence. The Tribunal is a specialist first instance inquisitorial body, whose...

Economic concepts are integral to competition analysis and to economic regulation but as a specialist field economics (and competition and regulatory economics, in particular) is often challenging for judges or...

By Willem H. Boshoff1   Abstract: Barriers to entry are now a core concern of South African competition policy. Conventionally, entry barriers represent one factor relevant to assessing the sustainability and effects of market power and its abuse. South African competition policy now looks beyond conventional concerns, focusing on barriers to the participation and expansion […]

Following a preliminary scoping of South Africa’s digital economy, the South African Competition Commission (“CCSA”) launched its market inquiry into digital markets earlier this year. The purpose of the inquiry is to optimize market conditions for the growth of small businesses and firms owned by historically disadvantaged persons, given the high levels of poverty, unemployment […]

Is it an antitrust offense to sell face masks at a high price in the midst of a pandemic? In this essay I address this question by examining two recent decisions in South Africa that found the high prices for face masks charged by two retailers were excessive under South Africa competition law, even though […]

The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to result in a large number of firms facing financial distress. This will likely lead to increased merger notifications appealing to the failing firm doctrine (“FFD”). The Competition Commission of South Africa will be faced with the difficult task of balancing future weakened competition in an already highly concentrated economy […]

South African lender Barclays Africa asked for forgiveness on Thursday for its role in rigging the local currency, a scandal that has raised questions over the dominance of four big local banks. “We deeply regret that this conduct took place within our organisation,” Chief Executive Maria Ramos said. “Those who are found to have contravened […]

South Africa’s Competition Commission has granted Barclays Africa conditional immunity from prosecution in return for its continuing cooperation in the rand currency trading probe, the head of the Commission said on Tuesday. The Commission said last week it had found more than a dozen local and foreign banks colluded to coordinate trading in the rand […]

This article is part of a Chronicle. See more from this Chronicle Heather Irvine, Jul 24, 2015 An important legal development for global investors into Africa is the increasing enforcement of antitrust law by regional bodies like the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (“Comesa”) as well as the East African Community (“EAC”) and […]