Trade, industry and competition minister Ebrahim Patel said the Competition Commission would be receiving additional support to rein in anticompetitive behaviour from tech giants in defence of local small and medium enterprises in the same sector.
Patel was replying orally to questions in the National Assembly on Wednesday afternoon. He was replying to a question from ANC MP Motalane Monakedi, who asked Patel what measures his department would take to intensify support for start-ups and SMMEs.
Patel said a crucial part of the government’s support for small business came from regulatory measures to deter anticompetitive behaviour from large companies.
He said the Competition Amendment Act empowered the Competition Commission to conduct market inquiries reports such as the commission’s report on the dominant online companies, including Google and Apple.
The report ordered remedial action to level the playing field for smaller players in e-commerce, food delivery and internet search, among other areas. The report also mentioned local e-commerce platform Takealot.
“In December 2021 the Competition Commission released a report which sketches out the levels of economic concentration and the affect on small business. And it draws a direct line on the concentration which leaves small business stunted by this,” said Patel.
Patel said the Competition Amendment Act now enables regulators to impose remedies where market structure inhibits SMMEs through its provision for market inquiries. He said the e-commerce space was a vital area to ensure fair competition as it had implications for tech and retail.
“The big franchises that run the big fast food stores impose on their businesses in townships and those business may only use Uber Eats. They are excluded because there is a condition in the franchise arrangement. The inquiry has said this is anticompetitive,” said Patel.
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