Abstract
This research sets out a practical enforcement problem which provincial consumer protection authorities are faced with under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008. In the initial period after the Act became effective, many of the provincial authorities received complaints that involved the consumer and supplier being in different provinces. In terms of section 84 of the Act, which sets out jurisdictional limits of the provincial authorities, it appears that provincial authorities were only able to intervene in a dispute where the consumer and supplier are present in their province. The provincial authorities referred such cross-border disputes to the National Consumer Commission for resolution as the Commission has jurisdiction throughout the country. The Commission refused to deal with these individual disputes. This research sets out the sections of the Act, and other measures, which could potentially be used to try to resolve this situation.
Highlights
The Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT), as part of a process to ensure the effective enforcement of consumer rights by the officials of the Eastern Cape Consumer Protection Authority, undertook a training programme to acquaint officials with the Consumer Protection Act.[1]
This article addresses the attempts made by the Eastern Cape Consumer Protection Authority to resolve these cross-border disputes through the enforcement provisions in the CPA and the enforcement bodies created by the Act, notably the National Consumer Commission.[4]
The provincial consumer protection authorities considered referring the disputes to the Commission under section 84(d) which allows a provincial authority to request the Commission to initiate a complaint in respect of any apparent prohibited conduct or offence in terms of this Act arising within that province
Summary
Stephen Newman B Com (Law) LLM (cum laude) LLM (International Trade Law) Diploma in Legislative Drafting Senior Lecturer, Department of Mercantile Law, Nelson Mandela University Mark Tait B Juris LLB MBL LLM LLD Associate Professor, Department of Mercantile Law, Nelson Mandela University
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