WATCH: SA’s competition legislation in the spotlight

Last Thursday morning the Competition Commission conducted dawn raids on eight major insurance companies. The regulator said it has reasonable grounds to suspect that the insurers have engaged in collusive practices to fix prices and/or trading conditions in respect of fees for investment products such as retirement annuity and premiums for risk-related products, including life insurance, disability, life, and funeral assistance benefits.

Tomorrow, legal practitioners, economists, politicians, academics, and industry officials will meet at the 16th Annual Competition Law, Economics and Policy Conference to discuss and reflect on competition regulation, the state of the economy and policy proposals aimed at shaping an inclusive, growing, and deconcentrated economy.

Titled Effective Competition Law Enforcement and Policy Development for Sustainable, Growing and Inclusive Markets, its an opportune time to reflect on whether our competition law is, indeed, fit for purpose.

To talk about this Michael Avery is joined by Heather Irvine, partner at corporate department of Bowmans Johannesburg; Ahmore Burger-Smidt, director at Werksmans Advisory Services; and Zakhele Mthembu, legal researcher at the Free Market Foundation.