Advice on public interest role of minister in competition

The Competition Act was written with the purpose of maintaining competitive markets taking into account various public interest objectives. As a result, competition rulings can affect or be affected by government policies and objectives.

Therefore, there are particular provisions in the Competition Act which play an important role in soliciting government input in matters that may impact on their objectives and create a mechanism for involvement without prejudicing the independence of the Competition Authorities.

It was in light of the above that Genesis was commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to develop guidelines for ministerial intervention in competition matters through the championing of public interest.

In order to develop such guidelines Genesis used its significant knowledge of the Competition Act and case precedent to assess the scope for this kind of intervention in the South African context.

The study focused on the legal framework as contained in the Competition Act; local cases involving public interest concerns; the way in which stakeholders and the relevant ministries and agencies had approached cases like these in the past; and, finally, on the various approaches to ministerial intervention that have been adopted internationally.

On the basis of this, the team provided a critical evaluation of the effectiveness of ministerial interventions; the impediments to successful intervention; and the ways in which processes and procedures could be enhanced.

This analysis was used to create guidelines related to the conditions, circumstances and procedures for ministerial intervention in competition matters.