South African Competition Law And Public Interest

South African competition law was transformed in 1999, with the coming into effect of the current Competition Act, 1998 ("the Act"). This statute introduced into competition law a somewhat unusual element, namely public interest. The concept of public interest is woven into the fabric of the Act. Even in the preamble, it is noted that, given the injustices of the past, the objectives of the Act include providing all South Africans equal opportunity to participate fairly in the economy and regulating the transfer of economic ownership in keeping with the public interest. This is reaffirmed in s2 which states that the purpose of the Act is to promote and maintain competition in the Republic in order inter alia to promote employment and advance social and economic welfare of South Africans; to enable small and medium sized enterprises to participate in the economy; and to promote a wider ownership spread, particularly in relation to historically disadvantaged persons.