Antitrust and Developing Economies in an Era of Crises - Webinar #3 : Gouging, Opportunism, Access, Industrial Policy, and the Challenge to First Principles of Competition

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SYNTHESIS

The moderator, Professor Eleanor Fox (NYU), introduced the panelists and allotted time for each of them to speak about competition issues in their respective countries.

Mondo Mazwai (Competition Tribunal of South Africa) spoke about price gouging cases that arose during the pandemic in South Africa. Ms. Mazwai explained that in March 2020, the South African Government passed a specific Covid-19 Excessive Pric­ing Regulations, which prohibits dominant firms from charging excessive prices for essential goods and services. The Regulations stipulated that a relevant factor in assessing whether the price charged is fair or excessive is the average net margin or markup in the three months prior to March 1, 2020. Price is excessive if a firm with market power raises its price to an unreasonable level. The burden is on the firm to show that the price is reasonable.