Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for a broadening of competition policy and legislation to address ongoing structural concentration in ownership and control in key economic sectors in South Africa, while still continuing to address anticompetitive behaviour by companies.

Speaking at the eleventh competition law and policy conference in Johannesburg on Friday, Ramaphosa described the performance of the competition authorities since their formal operational establishment on September 1, 1999, as “world class”, noting in particular their successes in prosecuting cases that affected the price of consumer goods such as bread.

Nevertheless, he lamented the prevailing “disjuncture” between the aspirations outlined in the preamble of the Competition Act - which calls for the legislation to facilitate transformation in the racially skewed ownership and control of the South African economy - and the actual content of the legislation.

The legislation’s transformational dimensions could be strengthened, the former trade unionist and business executive argued, by including a greater focus on structural constraints to new enterprise development. Attention should also be given to the creation of conditions that were supportive of black and women entrepreneurs in sectors still dominated by traditional white-owned firms.

High levels of concentration persisted 23 years into democracy, with ownership and control still resting largely with “white men”. As part of the “self evaluation” currently under way in the country, the Competition Act should, thus, also be reviewed to assess whether it was responsive to the social and economic needs of the country, including the need to transform the racial and gender imbalances in economic ownership.

Ramaphosa highlighted the US experience where dominant, or monopoly enterprises in sectors such as energy and telecommunications had been broken up, which he argued had stimulated an acceleration of growth and innovations.

He, therefore, endorsed the establishment, by Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel, of a task team to review the Competition Act and policy to assess ways of addressing ongoing concentration.

Competition Commission commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele also welcomed the creation of the task team, which would assess whether it was possible to bolster South Africa’s legislative capacity to address “persistently high levels of economic concentration”.

However, Bonakele said there was also a need to create a policy framework for State-owned enterprises, with a particular focus on transparency in pricing, cross-subsidisation and bailouts.

In addition, it was likely that legislative amendment was required in the area of enforcing criminal provisions introduced in 2016, but where little progress had been made.

“Mr Deputy President I must confess that there has been very little progress in this area. As you know the responsibility to bring criminal prosecutions lies with the National Prosecuting Authority, but the expertise and capabilities lie with the competition authorities. We continue to engage with the enforcement authority on the best implementation framework, but equally we have suggested that the law be amended to be made more effective and to provide for legal certainty."