March marks National Consumer Protection Month

The month of March is National Consumer Protection Week. It is time to help people understand their consumer rights and make well-informed decisions about their money.

There are more than 100 agencies and organisations involved in NCPW are on the front lines of consumer protection every day, and are committed to giving you the resources you need to navigate today’s marketplace.

For many years, various organisations try to eliminate scams, give consumers a better way to report and recover from identity theft, and expose and stop misleading business practices.

You also can help inform your community about consumer protection any time of year by spreading the word. Get ideas for events, social media and other activities to keep people around you informed. You can report scams and dishonest business practices you see or experience.

Consumer Protection Act No 68 of 2008
The purpose of this Act is to promote and advance the social and economic welfare of consumers in South Africa by:

• The establishment of a legal framework for the achievement/maintenance of a consumer market that is fair, accessible, efficient, sustainable and takes responsibility to benefit consumers in general.
• To reduce and ameliorate any disadvantages experienced by accessing any supply of goods or services by consumers:
• who are low-income persons or persons comprising low-income communities;
• who live in remote, isolated or low-density population areas or communities;
• who are minors, seniors or other similarly vulnerable consumers;
• whose ability to read and comprehend any advertisement; agreement, mark, instruction, label, warning, notice or other visual representation is limited by reason of low literacy, vision impairment or limited fluency in the language in which the representation is produced, published or presented.
• The promotion of fair business practices.
• Protecting consumers from:
• unconscionable, unfair, unreasonable, unjust or otherwise improper trade practices;
• deceptive, misleading, unfair or fraudulent conduct.
• The improvement of consumer awareness and information and the encouragement of responsible, informed consumer choice and behaviour.
• The promotion of consumer confidence, empowerment, and the development of a culture of consumer responsibility, through individual and group education, vigilance, advocacy and activism.
• Providing for a consistent, accessible and efficient system of consensual resolution of disputes arising from consumer transactions.
• Providing for an accessible, consistent, harmonised, effective and efficient system of redress for consumers.