COMPETITION COMMISSION TO REVIEW REGULATORY BARRIERS TO MARKET PARTICIPATION

COMPETITION COMMISSION TO REVIEW REGULATORY BARRIERS TO MARKET PARTICIPATION

• 22 April 2026
• Trade, Industry & Competition
• SA Legal Academy

The Competition Commission has issued a media statement announcing the commencement of a ‘review of regulations that may act as barriers to competition and the entry or expansion of firms, particularly small and medium enterprises … across all markets’. This is noting a reference in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA) to the importance of reducing red tape and improving the ease of doing business.

According to the media statement, regulatory barriers to competition and market participation may be:

• administrative
• rules creating or entrenching supply monopolies
• licence and permit conditions, or
• ‘unreasonable or unnecessary standards’.

They may be price- or-non-price-related – and may even be ‘reasonable in principle but are poorly implemented. 

Against that backdrop, the review will include an assessment of sector-specific policies and licensing frameworks.

With that in mind, stakeholder input is sought by 5 June 2026. It should include proposals for simplifying, amending or repealing the regulatory provisions concerned without undermining ‘consumer protection, market functioning or development objectives’.

• media statement
• 2026 SONA

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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