Twenty-five years after the advent of democracy, South Africa's economy is still not inclusive or dynamic enough to meet the aspirations of all South Africans, says Competition Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele.
Speaking at the Commission’s thirteenth annual Competition Law, Economics and Policy Conference, in Pretoria, on Thursday, he pointed out that the country was characterised by high inequality, with one of the highest Gini coefficients in the world, and a considerably high unemployment rate of about 29%.
Bonakele cited the parallels between today's challenges and those that characterised the economy when the commission was conceived 20 years ago, noting that the economy remains closed to many, that the concentration of ownership and control remains high, that there are ongoing restrictions on participation and inadequate restrictions on uncompetitiveness.
He said that while the commission had marked a number of successes, despite its interventions, the economy remained exclusionary, and therefore, much work had to be done in the years ahead.
He noted that recent amendments to the Competition Act were expected to go some way to improve the situation, with the amendments putting renewed focus on how competition authorities can be retooled and refocused to reduce economic concentration and promote entry and participation into the economy.
Another challenge that will dominate policy moving forward will be monitoring digital markets and the digital economy.
This presents a balancing act of having to ensure that this is properly regulated, without leaving the country behind the curve of Industry 4.0 by preventing progress.
Another challenge posed by digitalisation is that competition policy is not geared towards this space, which will require adaptation.