The Competition Commission’s former senior analyst for its Enforcement and Exemptions (E&E) division, Keith Weeks, has returned to head up the department, it said on Tuesday.

Weeks would be responsible for investigations in all of the Commission’s priority sectors, which include food and agro-processing, construction and infrastructure.

“As an institution, the Commission has moved from a focus on reviewing mergers to a greater proactive enforcement of the law. Ferreting out prohibited practices and investigating complaints of anti-competitive behaviour in the economy is an important job and Weeks has our confidence and support to further the objectives of this body,” said commissioner Shan Ramburuth.

The E&E division investigates contraventions of the Competition Act relating to horizontal and vertical restrictive practices and the abuse of dominance. The division also reviews and assesses applications for exemptions from provisions of the Act and has most recently been active in prosecuting cartel behaviour in South Africa.

The commission said that Weeks had extensive experience in economics and competition law, and had been a lecturer and a consultant.

His work spanned nearly eight years for the Commission, where he was an analyst at the Policy and Research division prior to moving into enforcement work where, over time, he headed various sections including the Technical Team of the Banking Enquiry, the Telecommunications and ICT section and the Healthcare section.

For the past year and a half he was GM for markets and competition for Independent Communications Authority of South Africa.

Weeks holds a B.Com and a Master of Commerce degree.