TIM COHEN: Changes to competition law will achieve the opposite of intended effect
Bill is premised on poor and undisclosed analysis, it misdiagnosis the problem and will be yet another impediment to investment
It is a common view in radical economic transformation circles that the reason for SA’s failure to industrialise is because the economy is “highly concentrated”. As a consequence, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in his state of the nation speech that the Competition Amendment Bill would be signed soon. That has now been done. The passing of the bill marks a watershed of SA’s industrial policy. It is, in my opinion, an impending disaster of enormous consequence. There has been a lot of pussyfooting around this issue, so let me just lay it down straight: this bill is premised on poor and undisclosed analysis; it misdiagnosis the problem; it constitutes yet another impediment to investment; it represents a major shift toward the politicisation of competition policy; it will have the opposite result to the one intended by making South Africans poorer. Although it is designated an amendment bill, it is actually a root-and-branch reconstitution of competition law. The existing act, th...
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