ANC DISCUSSION DOCUMENTS
HILARY JOFFE: Some jobs competition policy cannot do
‘Competition policy is becoming a victim of its own success, with political leaders looking to use it to achieve other objectives’
Competition policy is being harnessed to some uncomfortable political ends these days and it is no more evident than in two of the discussion documents the ANC released at the weekend. The first is the rather tired, but for the most part quite sensible, economic transformation document. It includes "dismantling monopoly practices and structures" in its to-do list and repeats President Jacob Zuma’s state of the nation address promise to amend the Competition Act to address high levels of concentration in the economy and open it up to new players, particularly black South Africans. The second is the legislature and governance document, which gives competition policy a leading role in its section on fighting corruption in the state and broader society. The drafters of the section were clearly keen to point fingers at broader society, and business in particular, in their effort to distract attention from endemic corruption in the government and ruling party. And maybe they really believ...
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