Abstract:
The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA) seeks to promote the achievement and
maintenance of a fair, accessible, efficient, sustainable and responsible market place for consumer
products and services in South Africa. Moreover, the CPA seeks to provide an accessible, consistent,
harmonised, effective and efficient system of redress for consumers. Notably, the CPA provides that
the supplier should not supply or enter into an agreement to supply any goods or services at a price that
is unfair, unreasonable, or unjust. This is generally aimed at combating any problems that are suffered
by consumers when accessing goods and services in South Africa. Accordingly, various regulatory
bodies and related role-players were established to enforce consumer rights and provide redress
mechanisms to vulnerable and affected consumers. These consumer protection bodies and related roleplayers include the National Consumer Commission (NCC), the National Consumer Tribunal (NCT),
provincial consumer courts, ordinary courts and other alternative dispute resolution agencies. These
bodies and role-players are statutorily obliged to resolve consumer disputes in South Africa. However,
there are some uncertainty challenges regarding the jurisdiction of ordinary courts and consumer
protection regulatory bodies in relation to disputes that relate to the consumers’ right to fair, just and
reasonable prices, terms and conditions of goods and services. This article discusses the role of the NCC, the NCT, provincial consumer courts, ordinary courts and other alternative dispute resolution
agencies in the regulation of prices for goods, services and access to redress for affected consumers
under the CPA. This is done to provide some recommendations that could resolve jurisdictional and
regulatory challenges in relation to the price and access to goods and services under the CPA.
