By Megan Friday
On Sunday, 30 June 2024, President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa announced South Africa’s new cabinet under the newly-formed Government of National Unity (‘GNU’). The Government of National Unity is “a government that brings together a number of rival leaders and political parties in order to promote national unity and political stability” (Cheeseman, N., Bertrand, E., and Husaini, S. (2019). A Dictionary of African Politics, Oxford University Press). The Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s main opposition party, is generally considered to be more business friendly than other, rival parties.
From the new cabinet announcement, it has been revealed that Parks Tau is the new Minister of the Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition (‘DTIC’), with Zuko Godlimpi and Andrew Whitfield serving as Deputy Ministers. Mr. Tau, the former Mayor of Johannesburg, is seen as a more business-friendly appointment than his predecessor, Ebrahim Patel.
We anticipate that the aggressive approach taken by the South African Competition Commission in driving an industrial policy agenda will be moderated in favour of a more business-friendly approach. A more balanced implementation of public interest objectives is expected, aiming to stimulate economic growth, business development, job creation, and more.
Any potential changes to the structure and mandate of the Commission remain to be seen.