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Johannesburg – South Africa, which has rigorous consumer laws but many docile consumers, can learn from the US when it comes to enforcing consumer protection.
This is according to Thezi Mabuza, deputy commissioner at the National Consumer Commission (NCC). In an interview with Fin24, Mabuza explained that the eighth African Consumer Protection Dialogue, which will take place over three days in Johannesburg, will bring together different regulators to tackle issues regarding consumer protection law.
“Collaboration among ourselves [regulating bodies] is required to look at the landscape of consumer law,” said Mabuza. Each regulator as a single entity does not have the competence to deal with the Competition Act, she explained.
Some of the issues include compliance with standards set by the standards bureau. The act should “transcend” borders to ensure that the quality and standard of goods is upheld by corporate citizens. Many “inferior” goods come across borders and end up being destroyed.
Of the 1% of goods which are checked, thousands of items are destroyed if they are of an inferior quality, explained Mabuza. “If 30% of containers were opened for checking, trillions of rands worth of goods could end up being destroyed.”
Lessons from the US
In the US, clinics and hospitals have a system where harmful goods are recorded. “If a toddler swallows a toy, there is a system to record that the toy is harmful to the toddler,” said Mabuza. This helps to ensure that companies take responsibility and are held liable for their products, she explained.
South Africa can learn from the US in terms of being proactive rather than reactive, she said. Consumers should also be informed about their rights, so that they can take responsibility for them. An education strategy should be implemented, to the same extent as that of HIV/Aids education, said Mabuza.
Shops need to introduce stickers on their products, much like banks and financial service providers which have certificates to indicate their accreditation. “This does not exist for soft goods,” she said. Education should be introduced for both consumers and businesses, to achieve a balance between rights and responsibilities. In South Africa, consumer protection is already incorporated in the Grade 6 curriculum.
A peer review is proposed, where the effectiveness of consumer protection laws is assessed. “In South Africa we have rigorous consumer laws, but we have a lot of docile consumers,” said Mabuza. A peer review programme will ensure that consumer protection policy can take shape and be reviewed after five or ten years to measure progress.
The dialogue is being hosted by the NCC, the Department of Trade and Industry, the National Consumer Tribunal, the National Credit Regulator, and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications. It will end on Friday.
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