Thieves at the Dinner Table – Enforcing the Competition Act

by David Lewis (Jacana Media)

The lefties who dominate the Tripartite Alliance in control of South African politics probably get a kick out of seeing blood-sucking capitalists squirm before the Competition Tribunal.

After all, they have yet to succeed in revolutionising the means of production post-1994 and it must be a consolation to them when huge and powerful companies get caned on their backsides for anti-competitive behaviour.

Indeed, South Africa’s competition laws were jacked up as part of the democratic movement’s bid for better economic distribution in the country and the tribunal’s success has even seen current or former state-owned enterprises being slapped with huge fines for abusing their dominant position in the market.

You may recall that Telkom was ordered to pay R449 million in August for unfair practices in the internet market in a case going back to 2002.

David Lewis, a former trade unionist with a background in economics, chaired the tribunal for a decade from its founding in 1999 and became known in some circles as the “cartel buster”.

He now has a book out about the subject and it deals with the setting up and enforcing of competition law in the new South Africa.

Lewis, who currently heads Corruption Watch, goes through the background of the watchdog body and its efficient functions, which reportedly brought it worldwide recognition.

And while trying to level the playing fields in the economic arena, one of the things Lewis became particularly wary of was clever, well-paid lawyers of big firms trying to drag out cases in ways that would sometimes lead to the financial death of a complaint from a smaller party.

After all, delayed justice is no justice.

The book is aimed at people interested in competition policies and laws, but the articulate Lewis is also not shy to take a crack at government failings at times. – Carl Peters