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The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) needs to take urgent steps to increase the National Consumer Commission’s (NCC’s) budget. In a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry at the end of last year, the NCC’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr Kgabo Mantsho, requested that the NCC’s budget allocation be doubled in order for the Commission to fill vacancies and fulfil its operational requirements.

The NCC performs a crucial function in South Africa, yet the DTI has severely limited its ability to be effective by giving it an insufficient budget allocation.

By enforcing the Consumer Protection Act, the NCC protects South African consumers from being abused by large companies and non-performing public entities. The NCC began operating only last year, but has already scored some major victories in favour of ordinary South Africans.

The NCC has been allocated just R50 million for the new financial year, roughly half of what the NCC says it needs to function, and only a tiny fraction of the DTI’s R9 billion budget.

The Commission urgently needs additional funds in order to fill vacancies, invest in much needed computer software and ensure that it can carry out its mandate. Many of the cases that the Commission takes up on behalf of consumers require complex legal advice, and sometimes even legal action. This is extremely costly, and with the current budget allocation the Commission will only be able to handle a small number of the many complaints and requests for assistance it receives.

I will therefore be submitting a motion in the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry to amend the budget to increase the NCC’s budget allocation, as allowed for by the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act.

The funds for this increased allocation can easily be sourced from the existing budget of the DTI. Line items that do not directly contribute to quality of life should be cut in favour of increasing the budget for the National Consumer Commission.

Options include:
Reducing the budget allocation for traveling and venue hire: The combined budget for traveling and hiring venues for 2012/2013 amounts to R148 million. More prudent use the Department’s funds means that a portion of this could easily be channelled to the NCC.
Streamlining the Department’s communications department: The DTI has a communications department, a brand management department and a media department. These three departments have overlapping objectives. Cutting two of the three and establishing one communications department could save as much as R75 million – more than enough to fund the NCC’s budget proposals.

The NCC has been unable to start a number of important investigations, such as one into the health implications of food systematically being sold after its sell-by date, due to a lack of resources.

With more funding the NCC would be able to assist more people and investigate more abuses by both government and businesses. In most cases, these abuses affect the poor the hardest as they are often less informed about their rights as consumers. An under-funded NCC hurts poor South Africans, and so it should be capacitated to help those people who need protection the most.



Media Enquiries:

Geordin Hill-Lewis
DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Trade & Industry
073 179 5957

Piera Abbott