In 2010, the officials of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) were reviewing the problems of formalising informal financial systems in developing countries, and specifically addressing the hawala system in Africa. Hawala was a highly popular form of remittance transfer, especially where there were no banks or the banking system failed to offer clients ease of access and competitive costs. However, hawala was open to misuse as a means for both money laundering and the funding of terrorism.

The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) submitted its recommendation on the South African Poultry Association’s (SAPA) appeal for increased tariffs on 5 August 2013, and on 30 September 2013 the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced that SAPA had got its wish for two of the five broiler products under consideration.  Compromise tariffs were introduced for the remaining three products (see table below).  The DTI said that it had sought to take into account the market share of imports of the various broiler products, and the extent to whic

In July 2013,  Siyabulela Tsengiwe – chief commissioner of the International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) – and ITAC commissioners met to make a final determination on a highly contentious customs tariff application.

In August 2006, Dr Richard Friedland, the chief executive officer of Netcare Holdings, which operated the largest private hospital network in South Africa, was looking at the findings of research into the opportunity that medical tourists from Africa presented for the group’s Breast Care Centre of Excellence. Traditional thought was that because poverty was so widespread in Africa, the possibility of attracting medical tourists from Africa to South Africa was minimal.

At the beginning of 2016, South Africa faced what Songezo Zibi, outgoing editor of Business Day, termed a “perfect storm”. President Jacob Zuma’s December 2015 decision to replace finance minister Nhlanhla Nene with David van Rooyen, an African National Congress (ANC) backbencher, had dealt the country its biggest financial blow since the start of democracy in 1994. Nene’s dismissal caused the value of local stocks and bonds to decline by half a trillion rand, according to one estimate, while the currency fell to a record low of R15.39 to the dollar.

In 2014, South Africa experienced its longest and costliest strike ever: a five-month stoppage in the platinum sector that cast doubt on the institutions and culture of the country’s labour relations framework.  After the strike came to an end in late June, the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac)  convened a meeting to discuss ways of preventing further violent and protracted industrial action. Among the questions confronting delegates at this gathering was whether labour unrest could be addressed by altering the laws and institutions regulating strikes.

In 2007, Jan Potgieter, chief executive of Massdiscounters, a division of Massmart, had steered Game, one of its general merchandise discounters, into investing far more vigorously in Africa. By June 2010, Game had shown significant growth in both turnover and profit, but Potgieter wanted the company’s operations in Africa to become even stronger, in anticipation of the entrance of an international player. Potgieter, therefore, had to find ways to protect Game against new players entering the African market.

No. Pages: 18

2005 – The Tribunal’s Decision

Despite the fact that the summary of the Tribunal’s deliberations, with non-confidential information only, ran to some 63 pages, its decision was straightforward. The Tribunal considered that New Protector was a failing firm – “or more precisely, a failed firm, within the meaning of the Competition Act 1998” – at the time of the merger transaction. It considered further that the failing firm consideration outweighed any potential loss to competition that may arise as a result of this transaction.

No. Pages: 2

On 31 October 2006, executives at the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) and private hospital group Netcare were eager to hear the Competition Tribunal’s decision regarding the acquisition of the New Protector Group hospitals by Phodiclinics (Pty) Ltd (a division of the Medi-Clinic Group) and DHJ Defty. Phodiclinics had made the bid in 2005 after New Protector had been placed under provisional liquidation in late 2004. On 3 March 2006, the Competition Commission had recommended to the Tribunal that the transaction be approved without conditions.