Claims for damages arising from conduct prohibited under the Competition Act, 1998
| Record Number | dejure_v50_n1_a3 |
| Author | Phumudzo S Munyai |
| Date | 01 July 2017 |
| DOI | 10.10520/EJC-8d75a5046 |
| Pages | 18-35 |
| Published date | 01 July 2017 |
18 2017 De Jure
Claims for damages arising from conduct
prohibited under the Competition Act,
1998
Phumudzo S Munyai
LLM
Senior Lecturer, College of Law, University of South Africa
OPSOMMING
Eis e vir skade voort vloe iend u it op trede wat ve rbie d word deur d ie
Wet op Mededinging, 1998
Hierdie artikel evalueer die regsraamwerk en sake (siviele eise) vir skade
voortvloeiend uit verbode gedrag in terme van die Wet op Mededinging
(‘die Wet’). Die hoof uitgangspunt is dat die vermoë van individue en
instansies (wat skade gely het as gevolg van sodanige verbode gedrag) om
skade te eis teen verweerders, effektief sal bydra daartoe om toekomstige
oortredings te voorkom en nakoming van die Wet te bevorder. Daar word
kennis geneem daarvan dat die reëls met betrekking op siviele eise vir
skade wat ontstaan as gevolg van verbode gedrag een van die mees
onderontwikkelde areas van ons mededingingsreg is. Verskeie faktore mag
die vermoë van klaers ondermyn om tot aksie oor te gaan in siviele howe
vir skade wat voortspruit uit verbode gedrag ingevolge die Wet. Sodanige
faktore sluit in swak geformuleerde en onvoldoende bepalings in die Wet
wat handel met klaers se reg om siviele gedinge in te stel vir skade
voortspruited uit verbode gedrag; en vrae rondom die gepastheid van
siviele howe as geskikte forums om algemene mededingingskwessies te
hanteer en die forums se rol in die evaluering en toekenning van skade
gely deur mededinging. In die bespreking en analise wat volg, handel ek
breedweg met hierdie kwesssies en ten slotte maak ek gepaste voorstelle
om die situasie te verbeter.
1Introduction
The most underdeveloped area of our competition law is the rules
relating to civil claims for damages arising from conduct prohibited
under the Competition Act.1 At the time of the preparation of this paper,
only five cases, four of which were class action certification cases and
were dealt with, at first, as a single case, had been decided.2 In terms of
1 89 of 1998.
2Trustees for the Time Being for the Children's Resource Centre Trust v Pioneer
Foods (Pty) Ltd, Mukaddam v Pioneer Foods (Pty) Ltd [2011] ZAWCHC 102;
Trustees for the time being of Children's Resource Centre Trust v Pioneer Food
Pioneer Foods (Pty) Ltd 2013 5 SA 89 (CC); 2013 10 BCLR 1135 (CC); and
Nationwide Airlines (Pty) Ltd (in Liquidation) v South African Airways (Pty) Ltd
[2016] ZAGPJHC 213.
How to cite: Munyai ‘Claims for damages arising from conduct prohibited under the Competition Act, 1998’
2017 De Jure 18-35
http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2225-7160/2017/v50n1a2
Claims for damages arising from conduct prohibited under the Competition Act, 1998 19
academic writing, there are only two credible textbooks3 and a handful
of accredited journal articles4 that have attempted to cover the subject.
When one adds the fact that civil claims for damages for anticompetitive
conduct under the South African Competition Act is procedurally and
substantively different from its foreign law counterparts, particularly
American antitrust and European competition law, it becomes too
apparent that there is not much to work with for anyone wishing to write
in this area.
In most discussions and conversations I have had with lay members
of the public and students on matters related to the Competition Act, I
have often fielded questions around ‘whether consumers and companies
adversely affected by conduct in contravention of the Competition Act
receive any part of the money the offending firm pays as part of a
consent agreement with the Competition Commission and as an
administrative penalty by an order of the Competition Tribunal’?5 No, is
my regular answer which, invariably, evokes surprise, and even
disappointment, among my inquisitors. As is the norm, money paid by
the offending firm pursuant to a consent order and as an administrative
penalty imposed by the Competition Tribunal does not go to affected
firms or consumers, but to the National Revenue Fund administered by
the Treasury.6
In the nature of things, conduct by a producer or manufacturer fo und
by competition authorities to constitute a prohibited practice may attract
multiple suits from an endless chain of complainants. The complainants
may range from direct customers (usually corporate customers) to
indirect customers or end-users (usually individual consumers). The
Competition Act does not preclude any of these customers and
consumers, if they have suffered loss or damage as a result of conduct by
a defendant found by competition authorities to constitute a prohibited
practice, from pursuing action in a civil court for damages. This, as I shall
show later, is slightly different from saying ‘the Competition Act
establishes a right for persons who have suffered loss as a result of
conduct found by competition authorities to constitute prohibited
practice, to pursue action in a civil court for damages’.7 It is not clear
3 Brassey et al Competition Law (2002) 327–328; and Sutherland and Kemp
Competition Law of South Africa (LexisNexis Online: last updated November
2015) par 12.3.7.
4 Moodaliyar, Reardon, and Theuerkauf ‘The Relationship Between Public
and Private Enforcement in Competition Law: A Comparative Analysis of
South African, the European Union, and Swiss Law’ 2010 SALJ 141-162;
Mongalo and Nyembezi ‘The Court Refuses to Grant a Certification Order in
the Breadcartel Class Action Cases: A Closer Examination of the Western
Cape judgement’ 2012 Obiter 367-379; and De Vos ‘Opt-in Class Action for
Damages Vindicated by Constitutional Court: Mukaddam v Pioneer Foods
CCT 131/12’ 2013 TSAR 754-770.
5 The Competition Tribunal derives these powers from s 49D(1) (read
together with 58(1)(b)) and 59 of the Competition Act.
6 S 59(4) of the Act. See also s 213 and 216 of the Constitution, 1996.
7 The relevant provision of the Act, section 65(6), only provides that:
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