Enhancing merger control to support economic growth in South Africa
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Competition policy – and merger control in particular – is an important policy to support productivity and innovation, investment, and long-run economic growth. This paper argues that merger control, when compared to anti-cartel enforcement, has become dominated by discretionary policy preferences fuelled by the expansive ‘public interest’ provisions of the amended Competition Act. Drawing on theoretical and empirical evidence, the paper identifies ministerial discretion, an outsized and opaque role for public interest concerns and the introduction of “vulnerability” as factors that limit the focus of merger control on competition matters.
Source: ERSA Working Paper Series
DOI: 10.71587/4z4q0k71
Author: Boshoff, Willem
Institution: Stellenbosch University
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7128721383
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