Where does the vulnerable South African consumer fit in? A comparative analysis

Abstract

Although consumer protection is not a new concept in South African law, the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA) now provides for a much more comprehensive and encompassing mechanism to protect consumers. This is primarily done in three ways: a) Protecting consumers not only in the provision of goods and services, the conclusion of contracts but also in the promotion and marketing thereof; b) Providing from the outset of the CPA (starting with the preamble to the Act) special protection to a particular type of consumer which is the vulnerable consumer. In terms of section 3 of the CPA the vulnerable consumer includes low-income, illiterate, young and elderly consumers. It also includes consumers from low-density populated areas; and c) For the first time in the history of South African law, the consumer is provided with eight core fundamental consumer rights. This article focuses on the consumer’s fundamental right to disclosure and information. Section 22 of the Consumer Protection Act provides that a consumer has a right to information in plain and understandable language. It also provides that the yardstick by which to assess whether information is in plain language; that is whether, “an ordinary consumer of the class of persons for whom the information is intended, with average literacy skills and minimal experience as a consumer could be expected to understand the information.”1