The Consumer Protection Act (CPA), which came into effect in April, is a vast piece of legislation that aims to protect consumers from unfair practices and make it easier for them to seek redress, but the effectiveness of the act could be hamstrung by an understaffed Consumer Commission, the confusing process to lodge a complaint and the fact that in many provinces consumer courts are not functioning.
Tanya Woker, a member of the Consumer Tribunal and a professor of law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said yesterday that the scope of the CPA was so vast that the Consumer Commission and the tribunal might not have sufficient staff to cope with the volume of work.
Woker, who was speaking at a presentation at the university, said that in light of this it was critical that non-governmental organisations such as the Black Sash and law clinics were brought on board to assist.
In addition, other regulatory bodies, of which there were over 250, would also be responsible for handling complaints.
Consumers who lodge a complaint have to follow a process before their complaint will reach the commission.
There were many bodies to which complaints could be made and it might not be clear who a consumer should first approach, she said.
There is still a discussion about whether consumers must first contact professional organisations with a complaint and whether the Consumer Commission has ultimate jurisdiction over them.
Although the act provides that there must be co-operation between these organisations, it is not cast in stone.
“The intention of the act is to make it easier for consumers to resolve disputes, but I think it has made it more complicated,” Woker said.
As an example, a complaint must first be lodged with the supplier of the goods or service.
If no satisfaction is received then a complaint can be sent to the ombud that oversees that industry, or to an alternative dispute resolution agency such as the Black Sash, or to the provincial consumer court, or to another regulatory authority. If there is no solution via these channels then the complaint must be sent to the Consumer Commission.
The commission can either negotiate an agreement with a supplier, or if no consent is reached (it can) issue a compliance order. The matter will be referred to the Consumer Tribunal if prohibited conduct is involved.
Woker added that with the Consumer Commission based in Pretoria, provincial courts (which are administrative tribunals) and consumer protection offices were “absolutely critical” for the success of the act. Currently there are only consumer courts in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the Free State.
She added it was a statutory obligation for all provinces to set up these courts and enact provincial legislation governing consumer protection.
Woker said the scope of the act and its usefulness would also be confirmed when the many subjective clauses of the act were tested in court.
This included provisions, such as on the price of goods, which stated that prices must not be “unfair, unreasonable or unjust”. - Samantha Enslin-Payne