Johannesburg, South Aftrica -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/06/2013 -- Leading South African law firm, Webber Wentzel provides a legal view on municipalities’ exception from the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, No. 68 of 2008 (CPA). Although the CPA broadly entrenches consumer rights and controls the supply and promotion of goods and services, Schedule 2, item 2(3)b does empower the Minister of Trade and Industry to exempt suppliers or industries from its application.
The Consumer Protection Act, No. 68 of 2008 (CPA) broadly applies to the supply and promotion of goods and services in South Africa in the ordinary course of business, for consideration and entrenches consumer rights.
The CPA applies to the State as a supplier. Schedule 2, Item 2(3)(b) of the CPA empowers the Minister of Trade and Industry to exempt suppliers or industries from its application. Pursuant to this, the Minister deferred the application of the CPA to all municipalities other than high capacity municipalities on 14 March 2011 on grounds that additional time is required to ensure adequate preparation of administrative systems.
The Minister later partially revoked this exemption; retaining the deferral of the application of sections 8 to 10 and 53 to 61 of the CPA in respect of medium- and low capacity municipalities. These sections regulate, among other rights and duties, consumer's rights in respect of marketing and the quality of goods, as well as the supplier's liability for damage caused by defective goods.
AfriForum applied to set aside the exemption notice in the North Gauteng High Court (the Court). The civil rights group challenged the validity of the exemption on grounds that it fails to promote the spirit, purport and object of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and it does not comply with the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000.
On 28 February 2013 the Court set aside the exemption notice with effect from the end of March 2013. Judge Margaret Victor held that municipalities play a central role in ensuring quality of life and must therefore be effective, equitable and accessible. The Court ordered the Minister to publish a notice by no later than 31 July 2013; listing each municipality in respect of which the application of the CPA should be deferred.
As a result of the judgment, all provisions of the CPA will apply to medium- and low capacity municipalities as suppliers from the end of March 2013. The judgment will accordingly impact consumers to whom municipal goods and services are rendered.
It remains to be seen which low - and medium capacity municipalities will be exempted by the Minister and from which sections of the CPA they will be exempted; as well as for how long the exemptions will apply.?
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Webber Wentzel is a leading law firm in Africa, being consistently ranked at the top by a diversity of international ratings agencies in 2012.
The firm has a staff complement of approximately 800 people (including almost 150 partners and more than 450 professionals in a variety of legal disciplines) in offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Its client base includes many of South Africa’s Top 100 companies in banking & finance, insurance & legal liability, media, telecommunications & intellectual property, mining, oil & gas, private equity, and property law.
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Webber Wentzel’s strategy is to help clients wherever they do business. Work in Africa represents a growing area of practice and, together with a network of best friend law firms; the firm has assisted clients in cross-border deals in most of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Webber Wentzel has entered into a collaborative alliance with global law firm, Linklaters, which is recognised for its leading African practice having worked on numerous landmark transactions in almost every country on the continent over the past 30 years. The alliance will see the two firms working closely together for the benefit of clients in Africa.
The firm is also associated with ALN, a group of leading law firms in Africa.
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