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On 15 March 2020 President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a State of National Disaster, and further to that the President announced the enforcement of a nationwide lockdown for 21 days with effect from midnight on Thursday, 26 March 2020.

Given the nationwide lockdown, the Competition Commission will significantly scale down operations but prioritise all COVID-19 complaints and the enforcement of the regulations gazetted by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Minister Ebrahim Patel.

During this period, the Commission discourages the filing of complaints unrelated to COVID-19 as well as all merger transactions except those involving failing firms or those firms in distress.

Complaints related to abuses of dominance or such exploitative practices relating to COVID-19 shall be handled between the Commission and the National Consumer Commission through a dedicated team. To date the two authorities have received over 20 complaints of excessive or exploitative pricing of essential products such as face masks, toilet paper and sanitizers.

Consumers and affected businesses in the supply chain can report any concerns to the regulators through details available on their websites, or through this toll-free no. 0800 014 880. For the Competition Commission, the contact person is Mr. Shadrack Rambau (Head: Screening) who can be contacted at 084 743 0000 (this number is effective from tomorrow and it including WhatsApp and SMS) or immediately through e-mail at shadrackr@compcom.co.za or ccsa@compcom.co.za.

The Commission again urges businesses to comply will the published regulations, as non-compliance will be meted with maximum penalties and sanctions.

Issued by the Competition Commission of South Africa