Issued by: Ministry of Trade and Industry
20 August 1999
I wish to announce that the Competition Act, 1998 (Act No.89 of 1998) will come into effect on 1 September 1999. The President has signed the proclamations bringing into effect the remaining provisions of the Competition Act, 1998 (Act No.89 of 1998) and the Competition Amendment Act, 1999 (Act No.35 of 1999). On 31 August 1999, the Maintenance and Promotion of Competition Act, 1979 (Act No.96 of 1979) will be repealed and the Competition Board will cease to exist.
The new Competition Act provides for the establishment of three institutions for the administration of the Act: The Competition Commission, the Competition Tribunal and the Competition Appeal Court.
The Competition Commission and the Competition Tribunal will commence operations on 1 September 1999. The regulations governing the proceedings in the Competition Commission and the Competition Tribunal have been published in the Government Gazette today. The regulations include the procedural rules for the two institutions, the thresholds for the application of the Act to merger notification and abuse of dominance provisions, as well as the forms for notification of mergers and acquisitions, the lodging of complaints and the application for exemptions.