What follows is a brief overview of the Consumer and the provision of any accommodation or

Protection Act (CPA). You should not rely solely on sustenance; and
the content of this brochure, but rather seek the • other similar services.
advice of your attorney. The CPA covers numerous
other issues not mentioned in this summary.
Cancellation of advance bookings, orders and
The CPA establishes the National Consumer reservations
Commission which enforces the provisions of Consumers have the right to cancel a reservation or
the CPA. pre-booking for any goods or services and to cancel
any order for any goods or services – except for
Who does the CPA protect? special order goods – and subject to a reasonable
The CPA protects all individual persons and small cancellation fee.
businesses with assets and turnover of less than
R2 million. Expiry and renewal of fixed-term agreements
Consumers may cancel a fixed-term agreement at any
It protects juristic persons, such as companies, with time, provided written notice is given to the supplier
assets and turnover of more than R2 million only in at least 20 business days prior to the intended date of
limited circumstances. cancellation.

What does the CPA regulate? Where the consumer prematurely cancels the
The CPA regulates the promotion of, and transactions agreement, the consumer remains liable to the supplier
relating to goods and services as well as the goods for any amounts owed to the supplier in terms of
and services themselves. that agreement up to the date of cancellation and the
supplier may impose a reasonable cancellation penalty.
‘Goods’ include
• anything marketed for human consumption; Quotes and estimates
• a tangible object including any medium on which Customers must be given an estimate for repairs,

THE CONSUMER
anything is or may be written or encoded; maintenance work or any other diagnostic work,
• any literature, music, photograph, motion picture, unless they do not require an estimate.
game, information, data, software, code or other
intangible product written or encoded on any The supplier may not charge for the estimate unless

PROTECTION ACT medium, or a licence to use any such intangible

product; and
• a legal interest in land or any other immovable
property.
the charge was disclosed to the consumer and the
consumer subsequently accepted the charge.

The right to quality service

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Where a supplier undertakes to perform any services
‘Services’ include for or on behalf of a consumer, the consumer has the
• any work or undertaking performed by one person right to the timely performance and completion of
for the direct or indirect benefit of another; those services.
• the provision of any education, information, advice
or consultation; The rendering of the services must be in a manner
• any banking services, or related or similar financial and of a quality that consumers are generally entitled
services, or the undertaking, underwriting or to expect.
assumption of any risk by one person on behalf of
another; No-fault liability
• the transportation of an individual or any goods The CPA imposes no-fault liability on producers,

Y O U R AT T O R N E Y - Y O U R T R U S T E D A D V I S O R THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT W H A T Y O U N E E D T O K N O W

importers, distributors or retailers jointly and severally Right to cancel a transaction or agreement arising
in the supply chain. They must supply safe goods and from direct marketing
will be liable in respect of harm caused due to product ‘Direct marketing’ means approaching someone (in
failure, defective or hazardous goods, irrespective that person or by mail or electronic communication –
such harm may not be caused by them. phone, fax, SMS, email, etc) to try to sell goods or
services to that person or to ask him/her to make a
There are limited statutory defences available to them. donation.

Mandatory three-month warranty on repaired goods Where a transaction resulted from direct marketing,
Repairs and maintenance work are subject to a the consumer may cancel the transaction without
mandatory three-month warranty period. This three- reason or penalty.
month period is calculated from the date of installation
of the new or reconditioned part. To do so, the consumer must give written notice to the
supplier of his/her intention to cancel the transaction
Right to return goods not of a good quality in question.
A consumer is entitled to return unsafe or defective
goods, including goods that are not of a good quality. This notice must be given within five business days of
the transaction or agreement being concluded or within
This right is enforceable for a period of six months five business days of the goods having being delivered
calculated from the date of the delivery of the goods to to the consumer, whichever is later.
the consumer.
Marketing standards for goods and services
Where the goods are returned, the consumer does so Goods or services must not be promoted in a
without penalty and at the supplier’s risk and expense. misleading, fraudulent or deceptive manner.

Unsolicited goods or services A manufacturer, producer, importer, distributor or

A consumer who receives unsolicited goods or services supplier may not promote or supply goods or services
is not obliged to pay for such goods or services. that are unlawful.

Goods or services are ‘unsolicited’ if the consumer The promotion of goods or services must be done in a
did not implicitly or expressly request the goods or manner that does not violate the dignity of any person
services. or is based on a ground of unfair discrimination.

The only exception is where the consumer has an

agreement with the supplier that goods or services You can approach the National Consumer Commission
shall be supplied from time to time without further via walk-in, e-mail, fax or telephone.
approval or request. However, in this case, any goods
or services that materially differ from those agreed on However, your attorney can advise you whether you
will be regarded to be unsolicited. have a valid complaint in terms of the Consumer
Protection Act and can assist you to lodge a complaint Tel: (+27) 12 366 8800
or to enforce your rights as a consumer. Fax: (+27) 12 362 0969
www.LSSA.org.za

P O Box 36626
Menlo Park 0102
Docex 82, Pretoria
304 Brooks Street
Menlo Park, Pretoria 0081

THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT W H A T Y O U N E E D T O K N O W

© Law Society of South Africa 2012