The Consumer Protection Act[1] (hereinafter referred to as the “CPA”) aims not only to promote a fair, accessible and sustainable marketplace for consumer products and services in order to establish norms and standards for consumer protection but also to promote a consistent legislative and enforcement framework relating to consumer transactions and agreements. Incidental consumer credit agreements are examples of such consumer transactions and agreements by which the CPA aims to provide...

When stipulating the terms and conditions in the contract and/or agreements between suppliers and consumers the Consumer Protection Act clearly stipulates in Section 48 that unfair, unreasonable and unjust contract terms are strongly prohibited. The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 was drafted and implemented to ensure that South Africa establish a legal framework that ensures social and economic welfare for consumers. In its objective (Section 3) the act emphasises the importance to protect...

This year has indeed been a tumultuous one. With COVID-19, the lockdown, the ban of alcohol and cigarettes, etcetera, it is easy to miss some significant development that occurs in the legal field that affects consumers. An important development has been that the Competition Commission has published draft Guidelines for Competition in the South African Automotive Aftermarket Industry. Industry role-players, the public and anybody with an interest had the opportunity to comment on these draft...

A consumer has certain fundamental rights which are given in terms of the Consumer Protection Act. There are a few of them, but it could be argued that the most important one in our day and age would be the right to equality. Section 8 of the Consumer Protection Act states that a supplier should not: unfairly exclude a consumer from accessing certain goods or services;grant certain consumers exclusive use or supply a different quality or price to certain consumers; or treat a consumer...

Whilst the Protection of Personal Information Act (“POPIA”) was enacted as far back as 2013, its enforcement has largely been “waiting in the wings” until now. On the 1st of July 2020, the majority of the Sections of POPIA have become operational. The implication of this development is that public and private institutions who process personal information within the parameters defined in the POPIA will need to comply with its provisions and will be held accountable for non-compliance....