South African consumers are still bearing the brunt of the legacy of apartheid, Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille told a consumer conference on Thursday.
Speaking at the National Consumer Forum at the Oppenheimer Conference Centre at Gold Reef City in Johannesburg — on the theme Holding the Public and Private Sector Accountable — she said the Consumer Protection Bill is aimed at improving access to, and the quality of, information to help consumers make informed choices about products.
De Lille said most of the divides of apartheid have yet to be overcome in the economy. “These divides are present in our economy and very often innocent consumers bear the brunt of them.”
Consumers are still subject to unethical traders and face an “unfair and inequitable” marketplace. Historically disadvantaged consumers are also not necessarily aware of their consumer rights.
It is good news that the Consumer Protection Bill will provide for compulsory labelling of genetically modified foods, as the consumer “has the right to know which products contain a genetically modified ingredient so that they can make a rational and informed purchasing decision”.
De Lille also questioned the role of big business in the marketplace. “I, for one, strongly believe that the hand of big business should also have its limits and must be socially responsible to the consumers to whom they provide products and services. This practice of buying their way around and bribing left, right and centre should be stopped by us, the consumers.”
The ID leader also said she is happy that the National Credit Act will come into effect in June. She is appalled that in December the private sector had gone “out of its way” to distribute thousands of credit cards, “probably to accumulate customers before the Act comes into effect”.
Big business and banks exploited the December holiday period with the result being a 40% increase in the number of cards in use, and card debt reaching an all-time high of R37,5-billion “despite an increase in interest rates”.
“This easy credit frenzy is taking its toll on South Africans — there was a 7,9% increase in civil summonses for debt last year compared with 2005,” noted De Lille.
The public and private sector should grant amnesty to those consumers who have been blacklisted due to bad credit, she proposed. “Essentially it is their easy granting of credit and exploitation that is to blame,” she said. — I-Net Bridge