Tag archives: Competition Act

Sharing information with competitors especially within industry bodies: Competition Act Draft Guidelines, 2022

This blog was co-written by Josh Da Costa, Candidate Attorney How much is too much? How long is a piece of string? How much information can I share with my competitors, and in how much detail? What do the Competition Authorities have to say on the matter in South Africa? The 2022 Guidelines provide some … Continue reading

Government and banks offer debt relief for businesses affected by COVID-19

As South African businesses suffer the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and national lockdown, small businesses can apply for debt relief from most of the major South African banks and several state programmes. The Department of Small Business has announced multiple interventions to assist small businesses. In addition to tax subsidies and incentives for compliant … Continue reading

Penalties for failing to notify mergers will increase in South Africa

In March 2019, the Competition Commission published its latest guidelines for the determination of administrative penalties for failure to notify mergers and implementation of mergers contrary to the Competition Act 1998. The highest penalty to date for a failure to notify is R10 million. The methodology in the Guidelines could result in much higher figures … Continue reading

Competition Amendment Bill proposes tougher penalties

The Competition Amendment Bill of 2018 introduces harsher penalty provisions which increase the enforcement powers of the competition authorities for purposes of deterring anti-competitive conduct. Removal of the ‘yellow card’ Currently, the Competition Act only allows for administrative penalties to be imposed in relation to certain prohibited practices if the conduct has been repeated by … Continue reading

Competition Amendment Bill 2018 aims to protect market participation of non-dominant firms

The overriding intention of the Competition Amendment Bill of 2018, introduced in parliament on 12 July 2018, is to address perceived high levels of concentration and the skewed ownership profile of the South African economy. The competition authorities have consistently expressed concerns about the large number of dominant firms operating in the economy which they … Continue reading

Is anti-competitive behaviour insurable?

The August 2016 first-of-its-kind judgment against South African Airways in favour of Nationwide Airlines, for damages arising from conduct that was held to be an anti-competitive exclusionary act preventing Nationwide from entering into or expanding within the travel market, raises the interesting question whether the loss is insurable by the company and the directors. SAA … Continue reading
LexBlog