A customary insurance law?

by | Oct 23, 2019 | SAMLJ, SAMLJ V29 I1

A customary insurance law?

Authors Andrew Hutchison

ISSN: 1996-2185
Affiliations: Associate Professor in the Department of Commercial Law, University of Cape Town
Source: South African Mercantile Law Journal, Volume 29 Issue 1, 2017, p. 17 – 42

Abstract

This paper will explore risk-spreading practices in the so-called popular economy in South Africa. Concepts like ‘insurance’, ‘insurance law’ and ‘customary law’ will be interrogated, with the analysis falling on traditional and more modern informal responses to risk, as well as more formal responses resulting from the increased penetration of private insurance in the democratic era. This contribution aims to address concerns expressed about both informal and formal risk-spreading practices, to argue towards a conclusion that a pluralistic notion of ‘insurance’ should not necessarily be sacrificed in service of corporate profit aims. Value remains in customary insurance law, and these cultural responses may provide evidence of a broader contract value system to be used in the service of developing the South African laws of contract and insurance. At the very least, this value system should inform concepts like ‘consumer insurance law’ and should be foregrounded in developing a notion of micro-insurance. South Africa has the potential to be a world leader in the field of customary insurance law, as the failings of a comparable system—funeral insurance in Australia—demonstrate.

Evaluating the role of the National Consumer Commission in ensuring that consumers have access to redress

by | Oct 23, 2019 | SAMLJ, SAMLJ V29 I1

Evaluating the role of the National Consumer Commission in ensuring that consumers have access to redress

Authors Tanya Woker

ISSN: 1996-2185
Affiliations: Professor of Law, University of KwaZulu-Natal (Durban)
Source: South African Mercantile Law Journal, Volume 29 Issue 1, 2017, p. 1 – 16

Abstract

An important aim of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) is to ensure that consumers have access to accessible, transparent and efficient redress. In order to achieve this aim, a number of different dispute resolution forums have been introduced to assist consumers. Having an array of different forums for consumers to turn to may theoretically be very appealing, but in practice the picture is turning out to be quite different. This article seeks to shed some light on the reasons why consumers are experiencing such difficulties when it comes to enforcing their rights under the CPA and it makes some suggestions for improving the process. The article focuses on the role of the Consumer Commission because the Commission is primarily responsible for the administration of the CPA. It is argued that it is necessary for the Commission to take charge of the dispute resolution process, because whether or not the CPA succeeds in its aim of ensuring that consumers have access to redress, rests largely on the role undertaken by the Commission in this process.