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On 25 January 2017, the Department of Mercantile Law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria launched the highly-anticipated Consumer Protection Law in South Africa Second Edition by Evert van Eeden and Jacolien Barnard, an associate professor in the Department of Mercantile Law. 

The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 has had a major impact on the way in which suppliers and consumers do business. This publication provides essential commentary to the legislation and case law, highlighting the main issues of consumer protection law from both a business and legal perspective.  The key speaker at this event was Advocate Neville Melville, Legal Consultant and former Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman.

Consumer Protection Law in South Africa, Africa and globally have undergone significant growth in the past ten years. The Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA) has had significant impact on the way in which suppliers and consumers do business in South Africa, Africa and abroad.

Since the first edition consumer disputes have gone full circle and the interpretation of the provisions of the CPA have now been dealt with by the enforcement institutions mandated by the Act and include judicial interpretation as well as industry specific issues.

It has been established that the CPA is applicable with other legislation as well as the common law in a very broad scope of transactions and agreements but also marketing and manufacturing of goods.

The second edition provides insight and recommendations on the most effective ways in which to deal with consumer issues in this regard and also highlights pitfalls that should be avoided.

The approach in the second edition is in line with the approach by South African courts that emphasises the important role of foreign and international law in the correct interpretation of consumer issues. The second edition has a broad scope of readers as it is written in a way that will assist practitioners in the handling of consumer law issues in a variety of forums and industries. This includes compliance, manufacturing, marketing and advertising, services, conduct and supply, conclusion of agreements, and enforcement and redress.

The book comprehensively deals with all relevant primary and secondary sources of law (legislation, case law and the common law as well as scholarly work by specialists in the field and empirical studies where relevant).

A new chapter on E-commerce, by Adv Sylvia Papadopolous, also from the Department of Mercantile Law at TuksLaw, is introduced to address the growing number of consumer transactions occurring online.

The second addition also caters for undergraduate and postgraduate students and scholars (nationally and internationally) on the South African position regarding Consumer Protection Law in  South Africa. The book is written in such a way that the legal position is addressed holistically without the need to consult various documents to come to the correct conclusion and legal position. The book will greatly assist practitioners, researchers, suppliers, consumers, enforcement institutions, students and regulators in providing an indepth view of Consumer Protection Law.