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Health sector exempted from some provisions of Competition Act

The government has moved to give the health sector greater flexibility in dealing with South Africa’s COVID-19 epidemic, exempting it from aspects of the Competition Act that prohibit collective bargaining and sharing resources. According to a Business Day report, South Africa’s outbreak has grown rapidly since the first case was announced on 5 March. Most of the cases are among travellers who have visited hard-hit countries, but local transmission cases are mounting.

The report says Trade, Industry and Competition minister Ebrahim Patel published a block exemption for the health care sector to sections 4 and 5 of the Competition Act in the Government Gazette, solely for tackling COVID-19.

It opens the way for private hospitals to collaborate with each other and with the state, to make the best use of hospital beds, intensive care units, and isolation facilities. The exemption also removes an impediment to co-ordinating the procurement of pharmaceuticals and consumables, transferring equipment and supplies, and co-ordinating the use of staff.

Patel said the government had been in discussion with the private sector and organised labour to get broad support for government’s actions and to mobilise resources to complement and strengthen its efforts to fight the virus. The exemption is in line with a raft of measures introduced by the government in the wake of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s declaration of a national emergency on 15 March.

The exemption applies to healthcare facilities, pharmacies, medical suppliers, medical specialist and radiologists, pathologists and laboratories, and healthcare funders.

The government has also gazetted regulations on the pricing of key goods and services, reports Business Day. Items covered in the regulations include basic goods such as medical and hygiene products, toilet paper, hand sanitisers, facial masks, disinfectants cleaners, surgical gloves, surgical masks, disinfectant wipes, antiseptic liquids, as well as baby formula and disposable nappies.

Also included in the list are rice, sugar, long-life milk, bottled water, cooking oils, wheat flour, and canned and frozen vegetables.

Offenders could face a fine of up to R1m, forfeit 10% of company turnover, and imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months.

[link url="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2020-03-19-patel-allows-competition-law-exemptions-to-fight-covid-19/"]Full Business Day report[/link]

[link url="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/health/2020-03-19-government-bans-price-increase-of-masks-sanitisers-toilet-paper-during-covid-19-outbreak/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Breaking+News%3A%C2%A0MTN+to+lower+data+prices+by+up+to+50%25+from+mid-April&utm_term=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businesslive.co.za%2Fbd%2Fnational%2Fhealth%2F2020-03-19-government-bans-price-increase-of-masks-sanitisers-toilet-paper-during-covid-19-outbreak%2F"]Full Business Day report[/link]

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