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The efficacy of the enforcement mechanisms provided for in terms of the consumer protection act 68 of 2008

The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (“the CPA”) has created several enforcement mechanisms through which consumers may vindicate their rights. These enforcement mechanisms have been created to foster efficient redress by promoting forms of alternative dispute resolution which are often more cost-...

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Main Author: Laing, Hadassah Christine
Other Authors: Naudé, Tjakie
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Commercial Law 2022
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access_status_str Open Access
author Laing, Hadassah Christine
author2 Naudé, Tjakie
author_browse Laing, Hadassah Christine
Naudé, Tjakie
author_facet Naudé, Tjakie
Laing, Hadassah Christine
author_sort Laing, Hadassah Christine
collection Thesis
description The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (“the CPA”) has created several enforcement mechanisms through which consumers may vindicate their rights. These enforcement mechanisms have been created to foster efficient redress by promoting forms of alternative dispute resolution which are often more cost-effective, accessible, and speedy. Since the CPA protects human rights and has been enacted to confront South Africa's egregious injustices of the past, ensuring prompt and effective redress is of vital importance. Despite this, South African consumers have experienced difficulties in accessing justice due to some of the CPA's inefficiencies. This dissertation seeks to pinpoint some of the Act's main shortcomings and thereafter proposes solutions. This is done in conjunction with examining the consumer mechanisms and laws put in place in both Nigeria and India as a comparison of how other developing countries have tackled similar issues. A striking takeaway point from both of these case studies is that regulatory bodies often do not have the capacity to play a central role in enforcing the consumer law of these countries. Therefore, it is important that individual consumers are able to vindicate their rights effectively. This dissertation focuses on s 69 of the CPA as somewhat of a stumbling block for consumers to individually enforce their rights. This is because s 69 precludes access to a small claims court in the first instance, presents an unclear hierarchy of redress mechanisms, and rigidly prevents access to a court unless all of the other redress mechanisms have been exhausted. Moreover, this dissertation also critiques the Act's position regarding the court's sole jurisdiction regarding unfair contract terms and the cumbersome two-step procedure prescribed when the quantification of damages is in issue.
format Thesis
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:34:38.153Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2022
publishDateRange 2022
publishDateSort 2022
publisher Department of Commercial Law
publisherStr Department of Commercial Law
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/35938 The efficacy of the enforcement mechanisms provided for in terms of the consumer protection act 68 of 2008 Laing, Hadassah Christine Naudé, Tjakie Commercial Law The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (“the CPA”) has created several enforcement mechanisms through which consumers may vindicate their rights. These enforcement mechanisms have been created to foster efficient redress by promoting forms of alternative dispute resolution which are often more cost-effective, accessible, and speedy. Since the CPA protects human rights and has been enacted to confront South Africa's egregious injustices of the past, ensuring prompt and effective redress is of vital importance. Despite this, South African consumers have experienced difficulties in accessing justice due to some of the CPA's inefficiencies. This dissertation seeks to pinpoint some of the Act's main shortcomings and thereafter proposes solutions. This is done in conjunction with examining the consumer mechanisms and laws put in place in both Nigeria and India as a comparison of how other developing countries have tackled similar issues. A striking takeaway point from both of these case studies is that regulatory bodies often do not have the capacity to play a central role in enforcing the consumer law of these countries. Therefore, it is important that individual consumers are able to vindicate their rights effectively. This dissertation focuses on s 69 of the CPA as somewhat of a stumbling block for consumers to individually enforce their rights. This is because s 69 precludes access to a small claims court in the first instance, presents an unclear hierarchy of redress mechanisms, and rigidly prevents access to a court unless all of the other redress mechanisms have been exhausted. Moreover, this dissertation also critiques the Act's position regarding the court's sole jurisdiction regarding unfair contract terms and the cumbersome two-step procedure prescribed when the quantification of damages is in issue. 2022-03-06T15:54:45Z 2022-03-06T15:54:45Z 2021 2022-02-22T12:34:34Z Master Thesis Masters LLM http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35938 eng application/pdf Department of Commercial Law Faculty of Law
spellingShingle Commercial Law
Laing, Hadassah Christine
The efficacy of the enforcement mechanisms provided for in terms of the consumer protection act 68 of 2008
thesis_degree_str Master's
title The efficacy of the enforcement mechanisms provided for in terms of the consumer protection act 68 of 2008
title_full The efficacy of the enforcement mechanisms provided for in terms of the consumer protection act 68 of 2008
title_fullStr The efficacy of the enforcement mechanisms provided for in terms of the consumer protection act 68 of 2008
title_full_unstemmed The efficacy of the enforcement mechanisms provided for in terms of the consumer protection act 68 of 2008
title_short The efficacy of the enforcement mechanisms provided for in terms of the consumer protection act 68 of 2008
title_sort efficacy of the enforcement mechanisms provided for in terms of the consumer protection act 68 of 2008
topic Commercial Law
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35938
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